Notre Dame de Paris
by ImpossibleKat
Summary: MC has been falling behind in Literature and asks Jaehee to help her with a novel. What better way then to put on a play? But something goes wrong during rehearsal and suddenly everyone has become the characters! There has to be some way to escape this novel. It's up to MC to finish the story how it's suppose to end, and save everyone. (MC/Saeran) (MC/V) (MC/Jumin)
1. A Curse

**A/N: First off, before reading this I want to thank you for putting up with any mistakes I make about any character in the future, and toward this master piece of literature known as** ** _The Hunchback of Notre Dame/Notre Dame de Paris_** **.**

 **Second of all, this will be slow to update due to me being in uni and having to keep up with a busy schedule as well as assignments. Believe me, when I have free-time, this is going to be a priority.**

 **Finally, I already have finished the second and third chapter at this point and are hesitant to upload because I want to see what type of hype this fic will get. Comments and follows are always supportive to help a creative mind further the path!**

 **Thank you, and enjoy!**

"I'm tired" I whispered to Jaehee behind the counter as I buried myself in my school books. Jaehee did her best to console me and gave me a quiet environment, being her cafe, and plenty of coffee to drink after having constant all nighters trying to finish my literature report and history report.

"Well, I was like you once; but then there is the joy of java." Jaehee giggled as she refilled my mug. "You've been coming in a lot lately, and we've barely gotten to see you at all. Only on the messenger do we ever hear from you. I feel very privileged to even get to see you once or twice a week here in the cafe." Jaehee turned around and started to clean up dirty mugs.

Yawning I looked up at Jaehee and shrugged. "I can barely handle a social life when you're trying to understand the history of Parisian at the same time while reading the 'great works' of Victor Hugo." I sighed heavily and hit my head on the table.

Jaehee gasped and stared at me with shock as I said the last couple parts. "Victor Hugo? Like the great french author of Les Miserables and Notre Dame de Paris? How could you sigh like that to a great author like Victor Hugo?"

Lifting my head I sigh heavily. "Why are you suddenly so interested?" My eyes widened as a thought came to me. "Wait, Jaehee, do you know about Victor Hugo? Please, oh my goodness please I beg you tell me what he was trying to teach other than… suffering people and ancient architecture."

She stared at me longer and put her hands on her hips. "I can't believe it. You don't even understand it that well do you? You know Zen was in a Seoul production of Les Miserables, and that's what got me into his works so much in the first place." Jaehee cupped her cheeks and sighed then grabbed her phone pulling out pictures of Zen in dirtied clothes and wearing french revolutionary clothes. "It truly was a great production, but it was sold out and I couldn't make it." For a second I thought Jaehee was about to cry.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I get it. Zen's a great actor, he's beautiful, and he sings like the greatest angels that ever graced the ears of god, now…" I grabbed Jaehee's hands and stared directly into her eyes. "Victor Hugo. Tell me."

Blinking, she smiled and then looked down at my books. "Well what do you already know, MC?"

"Nothing much but from the lectures I have been able to drag myself to." I sipped my coffee then placed it down. "But from what I remember… he was basically a revolutionary author and brought a bunch of attention to the architecture of Paris… especially the gothic cathedrals. Like he was some sort of inspiration for the whole cathedral to not be demolished by the public or something like that?" I said while my thumbs began to play with the rim of my mug.

"Not bad, but not fully on the nose either. While most things have been diluted by things like Disney, or other companies that try to rewrite his work, it ends up getting washed up from the true meaning. Perhaps Luciel knows more about the cathedral business… and maybe… well." There was a strange look in Jaehee's eyes. Like some sort of idea blooming and becoming greater and greater, and her eyes looked so large, I thought I would have to catch them.

"Are you oka-"

"A play!" She interrupted me.

"Excuse me?"

"Okay, well you know how I just said there are bunch of things that can change up the way the actual stories are meant to be. What if I immersed you into a play-like-structure of one of his works? We could get the help of the members since they haven't seen you in a really long time!" She was practically squealing with delight at this moment.

"Wait Jaehee… This is a big idea! I highly doubt anyone will want to take part in something like a stage play. Especially some of these works that already have stage plays. I've read most of them already! They always have romance and end in tragedy!"

"Well MC, then you know that maybe this could possibly be the best way. Zen did say he had a great sense of empathy when he was in Les Miserables. He even went as far to study the French revolution!"

"God, please stop talking about the revolution. My brain hurts so much." I complained.

"You also need a way to study and not over strain yourself." There was a glint in her eyes as she said this.

"W-What… well… I…" It was really hard to argue when she said that. I've been barely doing anything for myself in regards of freetime, and this might be a good chance just to study and hang out with my friends that I haven't seen in so long.

At last I finally sigh and take a long sip of my coffee. "Fine. Do it. Well… We can try it. My finals are in a couple weeks. If I don't understand at least one of his novels and write a full report, my GPA is done for. Jaehee smiled and pulled her phone up and began tapping on it like fire. I began to feel my phone buzzing. She was using the messenger clearly.

"That should do it." She laughed and then grabbed my literature book. "Now which one?" Shaking my head I sip my coffee once more. "Whichever one could be easier to write about and has enough characters for us all I suppose?"

"Oh, that would be this one then." She pointed at the page I was hoping she wouldn't.

Notre Dame de Paris. The story about the hopeless romantic deformed man trapped in the cathedral, a priest experiencing love for the first time, and a womanizing soldier.

"What could possibly go wrong." I said as I looked at her. These would be the words I will always regret.

Two days later I was able to come to an address Zen had sent out to everyone. Apparently the studio he usually practices his shows at was empty for the weekend, so he got us in. We all sat in the front row looking at a stage in front and wondered what was possibly going to happen. How much did Jaehee tell them exactly?

"Uhm… Jaehee?" I looked at her as she started writing things on a clipboard and looking from her phone to the board.

"Mmhmm Yes?" She looked like she was in complete secretary mode. I almost feared it. Zen appeared behind the red curtain and smiled at us and bent down to talk to us.

"So MC, its so wonderful you've finally taken an interest in the world of the stage! Jaehee said you had show you wanted us to look at." Looking into his crimson eyes, I blinked a few times before looking back at Jaehee who was nodding.

"What is the play we are looking at my dear?" He grinned and I felt as if my entire body heated up. God, I forgot how beautiful he was.

"R-Right uhm… I thought Jaehee told everyone?" I said looking around a bit frantically.

"Miss Kang has said nothing but to come to this address and discuss with you your literature issues. But apparently we are turning it a play if I heard Zen correctly." A lower voice boomed as it started to approach from the back of the theater. Jumin arrived and looked quite peeved. He appeared like he obviously has other things he wants to do at the moment.

"Jumin you don't have to be here if you don't want to you know." I said quietly.

"I haven't gotten to spend time with everyone in weeks, and I needed a good reason to get out of the office. This is simply recreational, and it also makes me happy to see you again. Not cluttered up in a library. You worry me sometimes MC." Jumin sounded so concerned, I couldn't help but smile joyously. I did miss his company as well.

"Jumin don't just walk away like that! I asked for you to help me with a ride, but not abandon me in the car!" A recognizable voice soon followed Jumin's. "We're all supposed to be here!" Yoosung jumped into the theater and looked upset, but once looking at me he jumped and hugged me tightly.

"Thank goodness you're alive! I thought the university ate you and wouldn't spit you back out unless someone saved you! I would have done it you know!" He's still cute as ever. Hugging him back I smile at him. "Good to see you too Yoosung. I'm fine! But I'm certain you can save me on LOLOL." I laughed at him and hugged him again.

"Well that creates a small cast… we're just missing a couple more faces." Zen started. "I'm surprised Luciel hasn't showed up yet, he usually is really excited to do something like this."

"But what about Saeran?" Yoosung said as he stood up straight and a little frightened.

"I agree with Yoosung, what about the Choi twin? He doesn't seem to be the kind to be interested in literature or the fine arts."

"Nonsense. He may have just been saved from Magenta, but he did appreciate things other than just his computer books and flowers." A softer voice came from the curtain and V appeared. "Hey everyone. I hope I can also take part in this." His smile was innocent and I couldn't help but wave happily at V.

Both V and Saeran escaped Magenta with their lives before it fell to the ground and was attacked from the inside. Rika was no longer stable, and after the infiltration into mint eye, we were able to see her true nature. But she chose her precious paradise over living in a world where she can't manipulate anyone anymore. It's been difficult for anyone who she's had a great impact on, especially Saeran and V who spent a lot of time with Rika. They are in a delicate place I don't really want to disturb, but at the same time I desire more than anything to be more apart of their lives and make sure that they are alright. The whole ordeal was humongous for us all, but still there is part of us all where we all choose to remain quiet and forget it as much as we can. Let the past die, Saeran would say.

"Jihyun… It's good to see you out of your dark apartment." Jumin said softly. Yoosung agreed and nodded.

"Good to see you too Jumin." V shoved his hands into his pockets and jumped off the stage and stood beside me. "Now please, what are we looking into as a subject for literature?"

"I hacked into MC's phone and checked her browser history before we even arrived. She seemed to have been looking up a lot of Victor Hugo's works so I'm assuming Les Miserables right?" A cheery voice came in from the back of the theater and Luciel and another figure stood beside him. The figure was hooded and seemed to stick to the shadows.

"Hey, that's an invasion of privacy god seven!" I shouted with a sense of laughter.

"It is not; unless I know I don't want to waste my time! I'm as busy as the next Jumin Han!" Luciel ran over and picked me up and spun me around happily. It's been a while since I've seen Luciel. I'm happy to be able to be in the company of my friends again. I look behind him and see the hooded figure approaching quietly.

"Saeran?" I say as I step closer to him. The figure removed his hood and I could see the red hair and mint eyes that told me it was the twin.

"Hey princess…" He smirked and then looked down.

"Still calling me that?" I asked as I reached for his hand and began to bring him closer to everyone.

"You always will remain so." He said softly. Saeran claimed that he was the first to see me before anyone, but I still cherish him like anyone else here.

Jaehee finally looked up from her clipboard and shouted at Saeyoung. "Luciel, you are correct. We are working on something regarding Victor Hugo."

"Fantastic! I know everything from Les Miserables already. I can give you all a one man show!" Zen said as he enthusiastically pretended to wave a flag.

"Actually Zen, we aren't going to work on something you've already done. We want to do something we all can learn from."

"Shit." Saeran said quietly.

"Bro, whats up?" Saeyoung turned his head to look at him as he began to sigh heavily.

"If it's not Les Miserables… I have a guess." Everyone's eyes were on Saeran as he walked over to Yoosung and punched him in the back of the shoulder causing Yoosung to hunch over and cry out.

"Ah- Why?!" The poor blonde boy looked up at Saeran while clutching his right shoulder.

"Because... everything is on fire because of some guys raging boner and he doesn't know how to handle it." Saeran looked at me and then at Jaehee. "Am I correct?"

Nodding, I laugh at how Saeran was quick to understand, but then I begin to pat Yoosung to console the pain he was suddenly brought upon. An interesting way to demonstrate, but still unnecessary.

"Is he perhaps referencing the Phantom of the Opera?" V said looking at Yoosung and thinking about what Saeran just said.

"Sorry V… Same premesie… Different deformity." Jaehee said crossing her arms.

"Wait what? There is another deformity than the Phantom of the Opera?" Yoosung said still clutching his shoulder. "But.. there was a lot of fire in that one. Didn't a lot of-"

"You're all hurting my brain. Please be quiet." Saeran said as he stood next to Jaehee and looked at her clipboard. "I knew I was right." Saeran looked at his twin and gave a strange look. "I can't believe you thought Victor Hugo wrote Phantom of the Opera…. It was a french author originally, but not the same one." Saeran threw the clipboard to his twin who caught it flawlessly.

"Hmmm yes lets see here. Oh my… Yes yes I see now. I knew my 'hunch' was correct when Saeran punched poor Yoosung in his shoulder and said what he said." Laughing, Saeyoung ran to the top of the stage and then hunched himself over and began to walk across the stage screaming "Sanctuary" repeatedly.

Shaking his head Saeran nodded and pointed at him. "Yep. You make a perfect half formed stupid brother."

I couldn't believe my eyes. Saeran and Saeyoung broke everything down in front of everyone, and then Jumin's eyes widened. "Oh… You mean. The novel he wrote regarding the cathedral right? I thought it to be a beautiful novel regarding architecture, I didn't know there was a deformed character in it."

"Oh that one? But wait, what do you mean you didn't know there was deformed character in it Jumin? It clearly says there is a man who is basically a beast because he has a hunch and is deformed greatly in his face." Jihyun laughed. "It's like you to look over the basic plot I guess."

Jaehee nodded and shushed everyone. "Yes, yes, you all get it I guess. We are doing Notre Dame de Paris."

"Notre what?" Yoosung said as he shook his head. "I thought it was called the Hunchback of Notre Dame?"

"It is Yoosung, but that's the english name translated from french! It's originally called Notre Dame de Paris. You don't see people calling Les Miserables the Miserable ones right?" Zen said as he sat at the edge of the stage and laughed to himself.

"I can't speak french though…" Yoosung said.

"You won't be." Jaehee said as she clarified. "You'll be speaking the script the lines that I found for you all."

"What?" I interrupt everyone's discussion. "Jaehee, you found a script of Notre Dame de Paris?"

"Of course I did. I did my research. This script is considered to be the most accurate to the novel there is." Jaehee said smiling grabbing her clipboard back from Luciel who was still clomping around the stage like a hunchback. "It will become the RFA's version of Notre Dame de Paris. And it will be everything only you need to know MC."

I understood what Jaehee was trying to do now. The play was a learning device while also being able to spend time with everyone after everything that's happened recently. It's an escape to another world and another time. And more than anything I was willing to fall into right now just to be able to be with them all.

"Alright then. What did you have in idea for a cast then Jaehee my dear?" Zen said as he took a peak at her clipboard. "I'm hoping you didn't cast me as the lead… I would much rather be a minor character."

"That's very humble of you to say Hyun… I would have expected you to want the soldier's role more than anything." Jumin said rubbing his chin.

"I agree, I thought Zen would make the ideal role of a Phoebus sort of character." V added along to Jumin.

"I will cast you how MC wants you to be cast. She hasn't done anything yet. I'm leaving this all to her." Jaehee said as she handed me the clipboard. I looked at it and there were stage sketches, and scene sketches, I was amazed. How late was she up last night. Zen grabbed my hand and helped me up onto the stage so I could take the role as a director. Looking at everyone I blinked a few times and tried to remember the characters from the novel.

Yoosung smiled at me and then jumped up onto stage putting his hands on his hips. "I will volunteer to be the soldier Phoebe!" Staring at him I couldn't help but start laughing since he said the name wrong. Saeyoung who was still on stage came next to him and then started dancing around him.

"Ah yes yes, let me be the pure virgin and main beauty, la Esmeralda!" Saeyoung said as he began to dance a little erotically. Saeran facepalmed and jumped up behind him. "I forbid it. You're more like a Clopin."

Nodding at Saeran's suggestion, I walked over to them and grabbed Saeyoung's clapping hands. "You're brother is right. You would make an amazing king of thieves." The red head looked at me and smiled brightly. "I'll steal your heart after picking the pockets of Paris." Blushing, I let out a nervous laugh as I right down Saeyoung's name and then Clopin's.

Saeran looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "Need help casting? I'm assuming you didn't really read much, and Jumin read mostly about the architecture." He was actually asking to help? This was actually very nice and moving for me. Nodding I ask him for the next name down.  
"Jehan Frollo…" Saeran said shaking the back of his head and looking at everyone.

"Jehan? Wait a moment there is another Frollo?" V looked puzzled for a moment and then looked at Jumin.

"Well, yeah. Claude Frollo has a younger brother." Jaehee said as she clarified the information to V. "I should probably said 'had' though." She then giggled to herself at the small joke she made regarding the character's fate.

"I didn't know. I only ever saw the Disney version and maybe skimmed the actual book." V said laughing nervously.

"You saw it?" Jumin said in a questioning manner. "I'm assuming this is when-"

"We saw it together! Me, Rika, and V!" Yoosung interrupted Jumin. "I was a bit younger, but I still got to enjoy it! Rika really liked it, so I also really liked it. And since she was going to marry V, she made him watch it." Yoosung then realized he was opening up old scars and silenced himself. "Sorry."

"It's okay Yoosung, you didn't mean it." I patted his shoulder and then looked at Saeran. "Could Yoosung make a good Gringoire?"

"Can we let him hang?" Saeran said raising an eyebrow.

"What?" Yoosung said in a sudden panic.

"Come on Saeran! Pierre's character is actually the kind that means well. I feel like Yoosung could do a good job portraying him." I said gesturing at Yoosung, and then Yoosung began blushing. "Y-You think?"

"Sure, make him the poet that lives with a goat. I have nothing against it." Saeran shrugged and then pointed at Zen. "He's Jehan."

"Excuse me?" Both me and Zen said at the same time. 

"EXCUSE YOU?" Jaehee screamed. "How dare you value Zen's life like that! He is no scoundrel nor is he anything like the blasphemous fiend Jehan! He's pure and perfect and meant to be Phoebus!" 

Saeran shook his head. "I disagree. As handsome as he may be, Zen has his flaws still and so does the character of Jehan. It could be very well the character that makes Zen find a new part of himself."

"Zen say something!" Jaehee said. She clearly didn't think Zen deserved the role of the antagonists sibling.

"I'll play him. Sounds like something I could be interested in. A drinker, a smoker, and a risk taker… If he existed, it sounds like me and him could have been friends maybe." Zen said and straightened his jacket.

"Well… if you say so Zen." Jaehee sat down and crossed her arms. She'll have to sit on this one for a while. I began writing down Zen and Yoosungs names down next to Pierre Gringoire, and Jehan Frollo.

Looking at the cast list, Saeran began to rub his chin and became really silent. His mint eyes looked up at the few who remained seating in the theater in front of the stage.

"Jaehee, do you mind being the king?" I said as I waited for Saeran to say something.

"Like King Louis the eleventh? The one who listens to everything Claude Frollo tells him to?" She asked curiously. Looking down I read over the role of King Louis XI and thought of what Jaehee would be like as the monarch of France. "Well you don't have to. You can be Esm-"

"Perfect. Honestly yes. I was afraid you were going to ask me to be one of the female leads. I'm very happy to play the King." She nodded her head in triumph and sat back. Well she did write this cast list, perhaps she wrote for herself. Writing her name next to the maiden role, Saeran lightly tapped my shoulder and pointed at V.

"I had to fight about it in my head, but he should be Phoebus." Saeran said. "In short, I know Phoebus is this womanizer or whatever, but when I look at V all I can think about is the time he had with… his 'sun'. And if Rika were here she would be Fleur de Lys. She would have her sun." Frowning he looked back at the cast list then at me. "It's only if you think the same thing."

He was sort of correct. Phoebus meant sun god, and V was considered to be Rika's sun. There is something there I can't see, but she did. Perhaps this role could uncover this about V. Without really thinking about it I wrote V's name next to the soldier Phoebus's name, and with a small note under it writing Rika's name as Fleur de Lys.

I hope this is respectful to your past Rika, the people who miss you still think about you.

Nodding, I looked back at Saeran and said softly. "That leaves you and Jumin." Saeran's eyes widened and he shook his head. "No, I thought it best if I just maybe watch or help direct. I'm not good with actually acting."

Looking down at my cast list, I had to make a choice. One of them had to be Claude Frollo, and the other the innocent Quasimodo. "We could just make you Clopin and have your brother-"

"No… He's perfect for Clopin believe me. Don't make him do multiple things." He said as he looked back out at everyone. He slowly then looked back at me and asked for the clipboard. Handing it to him willing I wonder what he writing down.

"There is only one way you can have me in this show." As he finished writing, he turned the clipboard back to me and showed me what he wrote. It was my name next to Esmerelda's name.

I didn't even think on who I was going to cast for the main heroine. Jaehee obviously showed her desire for not being a female lead, so did she deliberately leave Esmerelda's open for me? Then I remembered how she wanted me to actually be in the moment.

"Of course… I should have known." I said taking the clipboard. Laughing and looking back at him. "Then I can pick who you can be right?" I said looking at Saeran with mischief in my eyes.

"Oh god, what have I done." He said with a little bit of worry in his voice. Writing his name down quickly before he had the chance to take the clipboard back from me, I sealed his name next to his role.

"I'm Esmeralda right, so then I can pick who you are. You gave me that option!" I said laughing and teasing Saeran. I wasn't about to tell him whose name I wrote his next to.

"You are already acting like a witch!" Saeran said as he tried to look at the clipboard. Holding it closely, I quickly jolt down Jumin name next to the last and final role. "All done!" I said triumphantly holding the clipboard above my head.

Everyone looked at me and gave a smile, expect Saeran and Jumin who had no idea who they were going to be. V was still in the unknown as to what was happening and to who he was possibly going to play. But once I had everyone's attention, something began cause a stir. A quite literal one.

"What's happening?" V said as he stood up from his seat standing up in shock.

"An earthquake?" Yoosung said as he began to jump a bit nervously.

"That's impossible! I've programed an app on my phone to allow me to know whether or not something like a natural disaster is suppose to happen anywhere near me!" Saeyoung said as he frantically looked at his phone.

"Honestly, what is happening? We shouldn't be inside with all these lights hanging above us! We need to go outside!" Jumin said frantically as he leaped from his seat and gestured to everyone.

Saeran looked at me, and I leapt off the stage with him following behind me. As we all reached for the door of the theater to get out the ground below us began to crack and open its wicked mouth. Screaming, Seayoung grabbed me and pulled me over to one side of the aisles of the theater while the others looked down into the crevice with fear.

"Jumin, call someone!" Jaehee screamed loudly at her former boss.

"I-I don't understand." Saeran said. Looking at us all he quickly came to a realization. "Jaehee, please tell me that this script you found off the internet isn't cursed?"

"Why would you say something like that?" She laughed and then blinked. "I mean… I didn't write it, all I did was make stage sketches. The whole script was written prior like I said. The internet said it was the most accurate script of Victor Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris to date!"

"Well if the internet said… But did you read through it Jaehee?" Yoosung questioned.

"Well that… No. I'm too busy taking care of the cafe! I didn't want to ruin the authenticity if it was supposed to be considered that accurate!" She argued back.

"That's very smart of you Saeran, to think of a cursed script! But if that's what it means does that mean our play awaits us at the bottom of the crevice?" Saeyoung said as he looked down into the darkness. The theater shook more and more as we spoke back and forth. None of us dared to move.

"Guys…" We heard V talking behind Jumin and suddenly noticed that he was holding a sword. "Is this a prop?" He asked while looking and scanning it to the best of his ability.

"Something is very wrong." I said as I felt sick to my stomach. I found a tambourine at my side, but I was too afraid to pick it up. Saeran looked at what was in his hand and stared at me. His mint eyes seemed to give a inhumane gaze before I saw him fall down into the pit.

"Saeran!" I screamed as he sunk like a rock in water. There was a soft glow at the bottom. It was no longer as dark as it was before. "I'm not leaving my brother alone." Saeyoung let go of me and leaped into the crevice. The light began to glow brighter once he fell in.

"We all have to jump... " I said.

"Are you crazy? We don't know what will-"

I interrupted Yoosung. "The ending of the novel… Once we reach the end… We should return. That's how normal curses work. Right?"

There was silence and a sense of the unknown resting amongst us all. "We'll just have to find out won't we." V said as he leaped into the crevice. The light grew brighter. "God, I hope I don't regret this." Jumin said as he stepped into the crevice and allowed himself to fall.

"There is no graceful way to do this is there?" Zen said looking at Yoosung, Jaehee and I. "Live and die for the theater then." He leaped into the crevice and I swear I could hear him laughing all the way down.

Jaehee stood up and cracked her fingers. "Alright curse. You're my fault. Now let's solve you." Plugging her nose she jumped into the crevice and the light was shining brighter than ever. Me and Yoosung were left.

"I can't help but wonder… if this script is a work of Victor Hugo, or some demonic creature." Yoosung said with some humor hanging in his throat. "I may only be a poet… but… " He smiled at me and then leapt forward.

"Damn it Yoosung, at least finish what you're going to say before leaving me alone like this!" I screamed. Thinking everything over to myself, I had to think of the novel. To finish to story, I have to follow its rules and what is laid out for me. I have no choice but to accept Esmeralda's fate at the end. "God…" I said as I took a step forward.

"I've never done so much just for one class." Were the last words I let slip from my mouth as MC.

 ****

The world shifted around me and changed the way I thought, and felt. It felt as is the very breath from my mouth became someone else's. The brightest light warmed up my body and overwhelmed all my senses until there was only a sense of euphoria left in my being.

Shaking and rocking, I quickly shot up and began panting heavily. Blinking rapidly I looked around me. So many people were sleeping. Strangers and scoundrels curling up for warmth deep within catacombs just to hide away from people who would wish to do them harm. There was a faint sound of music not to far from where I had woken up. Standing up from my makeshift cot, I found myself wearing a very lacy dress that had a slit in it allowing my left leg to be completely free. The corset was rather tight though. Wrapping my blanket around my shoulders like a shawl I began to make my way to where I heard music.

Two or three men were playing on small instruments while another was looking at some papers and counting gold coins skillfully. Stepping in closer I squinted my eyes and recognized the man counting the gold.

"S-Saeyoung?" I said softly in curiosity. Looking up from his little tower of coins, Saeyoung looked at me with bright eyes and open arms. "Ah! My belle! You're awake! Did these guys wake you? I told them not to play, I did! But they insisted to play since they haven't gotten any practice in lately, and I couldn't resist a-"

"You're alive." I said looking at him. And wrapping my arms around him in relief, I let out a large sigh. I found him. And he's who just as I casted him as. He's the king of thieves, Clopin.

"Of course I'm alive. Did you have a bad dream? And since when have you called me by that name? That was just a child name you said." Saeyoung began to caress my cheek and smile. "Goodness you've really grown up haven't you. It's almost like yesterday I remember you running around and squealing songs of bohemia."

"C-Clopin… then?" I said unsure.

"Yes?" He said crooking his eyebrow. "Did you come to ask to practice the dance before tomorrow afternoon?"

"The dance?" I repeated.

"Yes the dance. While you dance tomorrow during the feast of fools, my men will be picking the pocket of all the men who will be drooling. Way too busy to keep an eye on their wallets. Besides, they would already give you the money, but we're doing them a favor by taking our own fee for your high class dances. You understand, my belle?" Saeyoung said brushing his fingers through my hair. He truly has become the character. He doesn't remember the casting or the theater. But wait…

"The Feast of Fools is tomorrow?" I ask again unsure.

"What kind of nightmare did you have Esme? Was it the kind where you're another person or something? Calling me by a childhood name, and suddenly full of all these questions." Saeyoung suddenly seemed so concerned.

"I'm fine. Honestly. I'll practice. Uhm… Goodnight Saeyoung." I said as I walk backwards to remove myself back to the cot I woke up in. This script truly was a nightmare.. I'm living it in real time and have to live like Esmerelda up to the end.

As I crawl into the cot, I suddenly remember everyone else's roles. I blinked before I curled into a ball and worried for all of them. If all of them have become the character, some of them are going through hell or through completely new lives. And what's worse is what I'm putting Jumin and Saeran through.

I hear the ringing of bells in the distant and realize that the morning was coming soon, and the bells ring as soon as the sun rises.

"...He's in there." I said to myself sadly. Hugging my knees and taking a breath I let it out softly. "Do as Esmeralda would do… I have to do it as he wrote it."

I am Esme...

 **Agree with casting? Who could be who? And do you like how I did play on words with MC (Ess-May) Esme?**

 **Second Chapter: Becoming the Character, and The Feast of Fools!**


	2. Feast of Fools

**CHAPTER 2**

[Saeran POV]

It's cold. I can barely breath. The last thing I remember… was falling and looking into her eyes in disbelief.

I attempted to stand up straight but something was wrong. I could barely even see. It's like my right eye was….

Waddling to where I saw form of light I looked over an edge and noticed I was extremely high up. A tower. It's true then.

"I am… the hunchback" I said with an estranged voice. It wasn't my own. It was mine but it was clearly different. It had more husk to it that normal. I attempted to move my head around to locate where exactly I was. Yes, of course this is Notre Dame. There are gargoyles… and looking back over the balcony I remember the look of the Seine. No mirrors anywhere. Of course. Why would someone like me want to know what I look like or be reminded of the curse I have been given.

Looking up I noticed the bells as they stood still in silence. I can't hear anything but their rings. This character became partially deaf because of ringing the bells. This will be a struggle.

"Find… MC…" I waddled up a flight of stairs to reach some ropes. "Get back." I husked out of my voice. Could she remember? Before all of this? We all were casted characters from the novel before dropping into this world. This must be part of the curse. I am already acting and walking as the hunchback would. So that means I should probably act his part till the end in order fulfill this curse.

The first light of day began to brighten up the cold stone within this room reserved for me. The world was not meant to see someone like me, that is why I am trapped in here. Right, I must also think like him. I must ring the bells to wake Paris.

Grabbing onto the nearest rope and grinning, I gave a large tug and began laughing as I could hear the sound of the morning chimes. I can hear it.

"I hear you Gabriel, I hear you!" I looked at another large bell, and its rope that appeared lonely. I tugged it as well. "Sing Marie, wake them! They deserve to hear your morning song!" The rope lifted me off the ground and I found myself enjoying this moment. My friends… My friends are these bells, and cold walls that secure me within.

But my real friends….

I jumped off the rope, and tumbled down to regain my balance. Waddling back to the balcony that looked over the square, I sighed and gave a grunt. "They don't know I'm here." Resting my head on the railing, I hopelessly looked out and let the bells give out the last of their chimes.

"Quasimodo." A voice came from a distance. Turning my body to face the direction it came, I waddled behind a gargoyle to hide. I am unsure to who would visit me. The voice almost seems recognizable, but I am far too deaf to really understand it.

"Quasimodo." It repeated, and a figure in a dark cloak appeared. I understood. This was supposed to be the hunchback's master. This is Claude Frollo. Stepping out from behind the gargoyle, I slowly approached the figure to understand who I was looking at. MC was the one who chose this character, but it was me or-

"Are you ready for your breakfast?" I stared at the lips to read and understand them. It couldn't be... That dark hair and eyes belonged to one man amongst the RFA.

"Jumin… Han" I softly said looking up at him. She casted the CEO as the archdeacon. I would laugh, but if I attempted to, I felt a great fear somewhere rise within me. Perhaps it was the personality of the character I am playing?

Jumin's eyes grew wide as I said that. "Who told you of that name?" His mood seemed to have shifted. Did I hit a nerve? Backing up slowly, Jumin crouched down to be at my level, and forced me to look at his lips as he began to speak.

"Where did you learn that name, Quasimodo?" His lips read.

Stuttering, I had to come up with a reason I knew Jumin's name. "F-Forgive me master. Just something I hear my friends say."

"Who are your friends?" He looked at me with curiosity.

"T… The gargoyles." I replied hestiently. This is what I'm suppose to say right? I felt it within me that this is the true response.

"They are made of stone Quasimodo. And can stone talk?" Shaking his head, Jumin looked at me with disapproval.

"No." I admitted quickly in defeat. I wasn't going to fight him. If we were back at the theater, I would have no fear of giving Jumin a good smack, but there is a new sense of cowardice I feel in me. Something I haven't felt since I lived within the walls of Mint Eye.

"Very good, now for your breakfast. I'm sure you would also like your lessons for the day." Jumin said as he pulled out a basket and sat it at a bench. Nodding I hobble over to Jumin and allow him to feed me the food he has brought me. Considering that this is the 1400's, it's actually a decent amount of food.

Jumin lectured me on multiple scripture verses of the bible, and I remained focused on him at all times. The fear deep within me to disobey is like a dog who would shun his master allowing him to sit at his lap. I would not forbid myself from such kindness, possibly the only kindness I will ever know. Claude Frollo, after all, is suppose to be like a father to me.

Jumin's head turned in irritation as he looked at the trapdoor. Was there a noise coming from there? Suddenly, the door shot open, and I noticed crimson eyes gleaming at Jumin. However, they seemed to avoid me at all costs.

Zen clearly got his role as Jehan.. Otherwise he wouldn't be in the picture looking like a sad dog to Jumin right now.

"Brother dear, the feast of fools is today and I need just a little spending money for beer!" Zen said while begging on his knees.

"Jehan, you already know my answer. Why would you take yourself so far as to bring yourself up here and ruin breakfast?" Jumin asked in annoyance.

"Because I know how much you care for the boy! But care for me too brother!" Zen reached out for Jumin's hands and began to beg a little harder than he was before. "Just a few pieces of gold for just a few sips. Just enough to make this poor sinner happy on this day. Allow your brother to enjoy today, I beg of you."

Wow, I'm surprised in my intuition about Zen. He makes a perfect Jehan. And it seems the relationship between them remains the same almost. Without saying a word, I shift away from their conversation and start to hobble away from them.

"Quasimodo… Come back, we aren't done yet with the flight into Egypt." Jumin said as he gestured at the book that laid in his lap. "He won't come back Claude. Come now. Let's discuss the festival!" Zen said as he closed the book and held it above Jumin's head.

With an aggravated face Jumin attempted to take his book back. "How dare you Jehan! You know I have no intention of attending the festival today."

"Ah-ah, then how will you possibly keep an eye on me brother? Besides, isn't it your duty to go out and keep an eye out for those gypsys you sworn to keep out of Paris?" Laughing, Zen gave Jumin the bible back. "I swear you have the tightest ass ever for a archdeacon. The king could care less, but you clearly see them as some sort of nuisance."

"They are sinners Jehan." Jumin responded. "They wonder our beautiful streets of Paris and defile them with their lecherous ways. To walk the same paths at them makes me feel as if the devil is crawling through the cobblestone of streets."

"And your goal is?" Zen crooked his eyebrow and shoved his hands into his pocket. "They are here to have fun like any other sinner. And for today they are allowed to dance and be merry. So if that is allowed, why not allow me to dance and make merry?"

As soon as Zen came up with that argument, Jumin was taken aback and reached into his pocket to pull out a small purse. "Here… " Jumin handed it over to Zen who took it with a great expression of delight on his face. Jumin raised his finger with a stern look and gave him a threatening gaze. "Do not… spend it all… on women. You said to me that you would remain at the festival. If you dare bring back a woman I will force you to start writing your scriptures again."

Zen looked horrified. "O-Oh Okay. You got it dear brother." Giving Jumin a friendly kiss on the forehead, he jumped down and excitedly left Jumin in awe.

I've only been staring this entire time at the interactions between them and can't help but feel delighted with MC's decision in the cast we created. But the story also seems to be progressing perfectly so far. Zen mentioned that today is the feast of fools so that means MC will appear in the square as Esmeralda. I have to make sure to be down there…

I hobbled back over to Jumin and tugged at his robe to get his attention. "Master, the festival?" I asked in my unfamiliar voice. I'll need to get used to it.

Jumin looked at me and then sighed heavily and looked really irritated. "Yes… The feast of fools. The sinners gather around and all create an outburst of debotchery and liesaycious acts."

"Sinners?" I repeated.

"Yes Quasimodo. Sinners. The gypsies who are invading the city. They are evil and want to ruin this beautiful holy land." Jumin's fingers started to run through my hair and he seemed to be comforting me. I knew this was all part of the story, but since half of me has become the character of the hunchback, I could feel myself believing him.

"Gypsies. Evil" I spoke nodding at Jumin.

Jumin smiled at me and then began to make his way out of my domain. I hobbled after him like a dog following its master. He turned around and looked at me in confusion.

"Quasimodo, what are you doing?"

"Coming with you, master." I said attempting to look confident.

He laughed at me and cleared the hair out of his face from his hysterics. "Quasimodo, you can't come with me."

"But I am strong. I can protect you from evil gypsies." I said pointing out of the balcony looking out.

"No my boy. If you came down to the feast of fools, it would be redefined entirely. I won't allow you to leave your sanctuary. Besides… " He knelt down and drew a cross on my forehead. "You have been blessed by God up in heaven. You must stay within Notre Dame and remain safe where no one will see you. This is your cross to bear alone Quasimodo." His hand ran down the deformed side of my face. The very sense of feeling fingers along my face was so unfamiliar, I believed that this was my only saving grace.

"Yes master. Stay here." I nodded and began to step back into my domain.

"Good… I'll return after the festival. Maybe I'll bring you something. Be a good lad now." I watched as Jumin left through the trapdoor he came in. Blinking a coupling times I turned around and started to hobble back to look out into the square. The square was already starting to fill up with people, but ever so slowly. From up on my perch, perhaps I could recognize the others?

The sun as it started to rise suddenly shone brightly into the hair of a young man with similar hair to the sun.

"Yoosung.. He must be getting the play ready." I said to myself as I looked along the sides of my balcony for a way to get down to the square. Eventually I am going to have to go down and allow myself to be seen. I know how this story works, and in my dark hours would read it to myself in order to fall asleep. For some comical reason, I enjoyed the romantic touch to the novel and found myself quizzically entranced while turning each page. It was better than being forced to read a book about coding for several hours straight. A little bit of freedom for my mind.

"Freedom… Like the birds." I looked as a flock of sparrows began to fly over the cathedral. Nodding, I began to connect myself more to my role and allow myself to become the hunchback who has been living his life inside the cathedral for twenty years. Living and learning all from Dom Claude Frollo, and having only the company of the saints in windows, stone walls, and the bells. 

Grabbing onto a rope and dangling off the side of the balcony, I smiled as I let myself swing from arch to saint. From window and then to the hot lead that burned at the top of the cathedral. "I found it… I'll have to remember where it is then from here." Looking back over the edge I tried to find Yoosung amongst the crowd. He wasn't that hard to spot due to his brightly sun-lite hair.

I let in a large inhale as I looked back out once more toward the Seine and all the buildings built around the city. Letting my breath escape, I began to watch the crowd patiently for the arrival of la Esmeralda… MC.

~~

[Yoosungs POV]

God I must have had the worst rest in the world last night. I woke up this morning almost feeling as if I was another person from another life. It's almost inspiring. I can't write about that now, I have to focus on this right now. The fest of fools is the only time where I can fully advertise myself as a poet. The troubadour prince of Paris.

Hopefully this play will be successful enough to give me enough money for a place to rest tonight. I'm tired of sleeping in the streets on random sacks of hay. Woah is me, the life of a fair poet is pitifully unfair. I desire to only share my intellect, and yet I receive nothing in return.

"Gringoire…" A voice came from behind me. I was looking off into the distance obviously monologue in my mind about this epiphany that has just aroused me.

What is this dream that I had. What is the name… You sung?

"Pierre Gringoire, monsieur." The voice repeated. I finally turned my head and was greeted with an impatient face. It was one of my actors. A fairly old man I casted to play the roman god Jupiter to cast judgment.

"Ah, yes. Jupiter, is the time now? Is the stage set?" I ask looking at him with a sense of eagerness.

"Well, yes monsieur, but there is a slight problem."

"What could you mean?"

"The populace.. They seem to not be the kind of fan of literature. The band can't locate their instruments, and someone claimed that a man is shouting slurs at the other actors." He seemed a bit frightened.

"Well, we must continue with the show. If we all desire something in our pockets by the end of the night, we must put something on." I impolored to my actor.

"But monsieur Gringore. We could be very well going home covered in yesterday's produce if we even attempt anything." He seemed to really want to fight me right now. I have no strength.

"Simply do as I ask. If it goes wrong, I will make sure to see to it myself and take the fall for you all." I said in the most heroic voice I could possibly.

"Monsieur, you are kind. But I am afraid of what will become of you." My actor faced away from me and climbed upon the stage. There was a sound of boo's and curious awes as strange sounds of the littlest music was playing. He cleared his throat and held up two props of lightning and then proclaimed-

"I am the roman god, Jupiter!"

"Jupiter? Are you sure it isn't Uranus?" A man's voice became louder than anyone else's in the crowd, and the way he said 'Uranus' was closer to 'your-anus' than anything else. It seemed to cause the entire crowd of on-goers and viewers of my play to laugh in hysterical bursts.

"God… What an insult." I leapt onto the stage as I promised and met with a face who stood at the front of my stage and looked as smug as Lucifer himself. His eyes were a bright red crimson, and his hair was long and white like the wings of a dove. To be completely frank, he was actually quite handsome. Should I feel thankful that someone as beautiful as him had come to witness my play?

"And who could you possibly be? Icarus perhaps? Flying too close to the sun has caused his hair to become permanently stained from the wax!" The man opened his mouth and began to throw slurs at me.

"I-Icarus? B-But what do you… How could you possibly know of such a story and yet throw swinish insults at my play?" I ask in confusion.

"Your play?" He gestured up to my actors standing around like deer fearing the hunt of man. I simply nodded and crossed my arms confidently.

"Yes, my play. And if you were more patient, you'd be able to enjoy it more properly I believe." I said smiling at the white haired man. He gave me a devilish grin and laughed.

"Ah ha? Then let's hear what comes. Let Jupiter speak fair poet! Do not waste my time any longer or the thieves will come and pick the pockets of us all."

Standing up, I nod at my lead and allow him to speak once again. The white man look bemused and stared straight up at the actors with a very judgemental gaze.

"I am roman god, Jupiter!" My actor repeated lifting his prop of lighting into the air.

"You already said that!" The white haired man shouted once more. "Waste of time! One line. Truly a marvel of what the poets of France have become!" Mockingly he kissed his fingers as if to say the play was a marvel.

"Jehan!" A man on horseback began to ride through the crowd. He was wearing priestly robes and gazing down at the crowd with eyes that I can only describe as disgust.

The white haired man turned around annoyingly and faced the man on horseback. "Oh, my dear brother. I haven't forgotten you. The finest poet of them all. After all, you are not only a man of the church but of great science!" The man referred to as Jehan jumped up onto the stage and began to act like a priest.

" _Kire elision_ , god bless all of thee. We have come to the feast of fools to watch… a play?" He raised a finger and shook his head. "Tsk tsk tsk, come now. We are here to have fun are we not?" The crowd responded with cheers and gay laughter. Whoever this man is, he truly did know how to rouse a crowd… better than I at the current moment.

"Come everyone! They have gypsies at the square! I hear la belle Esmeralda will be here! Come come, let us all grab our pockets to give the Egyptian queen what she deserves." He paused and laughed. "That is unless your purses aren't snatched by the pickpockets that live amongst the court of miracles!" Laughing, he climbed onto the shoulders of whom I am presuming are fans of his and they carried him off deeper into the square. As he past the man on the horse, he gave almost a sorrowful smile to him, and then laughed it off. Siblings did he say?

The man on the horse began to trot over to me. "I apologize. Some people don't enjoy such craft as literature anymore. Something as great as knowledge is rare, and God has blessed you to share your words with the world."

"Do you apologize for the one who slurs at my play?" I asked the darker haired man. Is it really possible these two are brothers? They don't quite look like brothers.

"I do. But he will be further humiliated later. I will be sure to deliver… some sort of punishment to him." He turned his steed around and began to make his way to where his sibling was carried off too.

The sound of tambourines, and clapping began to come from direction he also went. "What in the name of…?" I left my stage and actors and began to jog deeper into the square. I began to push past people and then accidently fell over a man who appeared to have lost and eye and an absences for a leg. "I-I am terribly sorry sir! Are you alright?"

He looked at me and smiled brightly. "Charity for a pour soul? Charity for a king of thieves?" As he held his hand out, he pulled his eye-patch up and removed the peg leg that replaced his 'missing' leg. Slipping back, I began to stutter. "I-I have no money." I said with a bit of fear in my voice. His red hair was so bright, it was truly a spectacle to see such a brilliantly vibrant smile on a man who was considered the king of thieves. He looked down at me and lifted me up and patted me down.

"You're right, you don't! Not a purse on yah! What a shame. What was it I heard you were earlier? A poet? Jehan may be rude, but he's correct. There is no life for a poet in France." He shook his head and then put his eye patch back on and cackled. "Perhaps try the life of a pickpocket! What other way to put money in your own?"

"La Esmeralda!" A voice shouted deep from within the crowd. Turning his head, the thief king stood up and looked very proud.

"Ah, it is time. Enjoy the show lad! She is the finest of all in France, now go. Go watch la Esmeralda dance!" The red headed thief slipped back into the crowd; possibly to pick the pockets of onlookers while they stared at the gypsy. I couldn't understand why though. What's so wonderful about a gypsy girl?

Walking closer I saw a woman dressed in bright red silk that glittered when the sun hit it. Her ankles had small bells on them and she danced with a tambourine held tightly in her hand. Every beat she would lightly tap it to her rear to make it ring with delight. I have never seen such a sight. Her long chocolate hair caught the rays of sunlight perfectly as she spun around to a unseen song. Her voice lit up the square as she began to rattle the tambourine in entrancing circles. The crowd was so silent as they all gazed at her beauty.

"A marvel… this is the bohemian queen?" I covered my mouth and held my breath as she danced and stepped on each cobblestone on the square. Each move was so delicate and precise, it was like an angel dancing on a cloud. "Who is she?"

"A demon… a gypsy witch." I turned my head to see the priest from earlier staring at her with almost the same expression as my own. He seemed to be in a fit of rage, and yet he couldn't look away from her. Perhaps she was a witch if she was capable enough to put a priest under her spell.

But then I too would be under that spell. Oh foul witch, cast your spell on me and let me stare all day at your beauty. As the tambourine shook sporadically, she stopped and bowed. The crowd cheered and applauded, and the red headed man appeared from the crowd without his peg leg or eyepatch. He seemed very proud of his dancing distraction.

"La belle Esmeralda will now crown the pope of fools! Ladies and gentlemen, you know the rules! The ugliest of them all shall become the pope! Perhaps an even better king than the one we have now!"

Esmeralda pulled out a crown that had small golden bells attached to it, and men from the crowd produced a chariot fit for a king of the fae. It was admirable to say the least. One by one, I watched as people walked behind a pillar and shoved their face through an archway to show off their hideous faces.

Blemishes, moles, and bald people laughing. Teeth missing, and hideous cackling. True, they were all ugly, but I couldn't quite describe how I would chose the king myself. After all, it seemed like it was up to the populaces cheers. Looking around at the people around me, I noticed our gypsy was missing.

Then her bright dress caught my eye. She seemed to be standing in the shade near an archway. Was she perhaps talking to someone? It seemed she only knew the king of thieves though. Shrugging it off, I began to join the crowd in their screams and shouts of laughter. If I can't show off my play, then I might as well just play along.

[MC POV]

I looked at him as he hid behind a wheel. I recognized his mint eyes as soon as Saeyoung told me to find a pope of fools. It was from up in this novel I knew what I had to do. It was my job as Esmeralda to find the hunchback and place him on the throne as the king of fools. But it seemed not only did I find the hunchback… but he also knew who he was.

"Get it over with." He spoke softly covering half his face. Seeing Saeran like this was so shocking to me. I casted him to be like this, but how come he knew who he was? I've already noticed Saeyoung and Yoosung, but they haven't said anything to me about who they were before. Even Jumin remained silent…. Jaehee is here only as the king to watch us all having fun. Of course she wouldn't know. But could it be…

"Do you know who I am?" I asked Saeran while reaching my hand out to him.

He stared at me and blinked a couple times before realizing what I asked. "You know?" I nodded at him.

"No time to talk.. Have to progress story." He grabbed my hand and began to waddle to where people were lining up to show off their hideous faces. I could barely even watch this… He was about to show his face to everyone. Biting my lip I looked up in anticipation.

Suddenly looking out, I saw as the crowd began to scream and point at him with fear in their eyes. "What a hideous mask!"

"That's no mask, that's his face!"

"It's the bellringer of Notre Dame, The Archdeacon's kid!" I finally found Zen as he stood up on a stool and pointed at Saeran and then at Jumin who was sitting on his black steed. Jumin scowled at Saeran and almost seemed to hiss. People began to silence themselves and in fear didn't know what to do. Saeran looked at me with his one good eye and frowned at me.

Staring at him, I felt pity start to boil up inside me. Is this what Esmeralda was suppose to feel? Half of his face drooped and he seemed to try and hide it with his hair which had turned the color of white like when he lived at Magenta. Clutching my chest, I looked at Saeyoung who smiled and laughed at this moment. Saeran looked at his sibling who was playing another character and seemed to be even more broken at this moment in time.

"Citizens of Paris! We asked for the ugliest face did we not? And we got it!" Saeyoung said triumphantly looking back at Saeran then at me to get me to crown him. Saeyoung led Saeran down to the chariot to sit upon.

"Good luck talking to the king! He's blind in an eye, and the bells up in the tower have made him deaf!" Shouted Zen. Jumping down from his stool, he walked over to Saeran and pinched his cheek. "Lucky him though, he finally dropped his balls to actually disobey my brother." Turning his back to Saeran he laughed and shouted to all the woman.

"Look away all women who want to have children! His mere gaze will kill off your fertile chances! The devil lives within him!" Zen proclaimed. Damn, Saeran was right about Zen being a good role for Jehan. I angrily walked up to Zen and smacked him across the cheek. I didn't know what came over me, just the anger of Zen talking like that about his friend. I looked at the palm of my hand then at Zen.

"You do not speak like that to another man." I hissed out at him. He grabbed my wrist and closed my palm and brought my fingers to his lips. "He is no man la belle. He is the beast that my brother protects. There is a beast within me too belle." He growled at me and I tugged my hand away from him. Saeyoung shot up from behind me and gave dagger eyes to Zen. "Speak no more, it is the crowning ceremony! If I see you speak, I will personally have my dear auntie Fatcheek sit upon all your faces to suffocate you so that you may meet god in the most unholiest of ways."

A large woman, taller than any giant I have seen walked through the crowd and laughed with a really low voice. I didn't know Saeyoung had a bearded man as another show person, but I suppose that's Clopin's character. Get the entertainment, and while they entertain, pick the pockets of those being entertained. It's the simple cycle Clopin had created, and to be honest, it worked for a thief. And since he was the king, it worked for them all.

Once Zen silenced himself, I walked over to Saeran and placed the crown onto his head. I stared right into his mint eyes as he looked up at me. In his eyes I could see a bit of joy from this moment. I smiled at him and then took steps back and nodded at Saeyoung. "I'd like to dance for our king."

Grinning with excitement, Saeyoung looked at the crowd and gave a few winks to a couple of thieves hidden within. "La Esmeralda dances for the king!" Saeran clapped his hands together foolishly and gave out a laugh as the crowd joined him in his laughter.

In this dance, I did my best to pull out the character that was buried within me.

Esmeralda help me dance like you. Help me dance to apologize. Help me sing to him. And like that, I could feel my body moving and my voice rising from the bottom of my chest to reach the ears of the crowd. The poor deaf hunchback stared at me as I danced to the words I created for him.

I'm sorry Saeran. We have to work together to finish this. But before I could even finish my dance, a black horse rushed past me and almost stomped on my foot. The man upon the horse jumped off the horse and ripped the crown from Saeran's head. I stood up straight in anger as I was interrupted from not only my dance, but my apology!

Then I recognized the man who picked up Saeran and pointed at the cathedral. It was Jumin. He was watching earlier on his steed, but now it was his time for his action. To send the king of fools back into the church away from the crowd. Saeran looked at me one last time before lowering his head and hobbled away back into the church.

"Of course you would take away our fun." Zen's voice rang up out of anger. Jumin approached him quickly and he stared at him angrily. "Keep your mouth shut, or you will find lashes on your back in your sleep." Jumin's threat seemed to reach Zen and as he walked back to his horse, his eyes met with mine and they seemed to be full of fire. I felt a cold shiver run down my spine from this point.

"It's begun hasn't it?" I said quietly.

"Not quite my dear, we still have all night!" Saeyoung came from behind me and held a sack of gold in his hand. "Come, it's time for drinks."

Of course… It's not the end of the story yet. But only the beginning of the love affair. Slipping away with Saeyoung, we made our way back into the crowd to avoid the eyes of the more judge mental. But I already knew… Tonight I am going to be followed.

 _And fall in love._

 _ **~~**_

 _ **AN:**_ **Thank you for the support for those who have shared it so far! I am very happy to give you the next chapter! Enjoy~ I appreciate comments; they are after all what help me want to post more!**


	3. Fall in Love

**Chapter 3**

 **[Jumin POV]**

The overwhelming sound of the crowd boos and harassing words were all thrown at my back as I followed my ward back into the cathedral. Sealing the doors behind me, I let my eyes wonder the crowd to stare at all the faces who mattered not to me. Nothing mattered in this moment. I have been humiliated merely by Quasimodo's appearance at the Feast of Fools when I told him to never come down to the world below.

I have been humiliated, shunned, harassed, and yet there was something else still inside me that was burning. That gypsy. The devil lives within her for sure, there is no denying it. Just from the way she moves, it is certain. And she even dared to strike my brother… given he deserved it, but no woman should dare have the gall.

It lit something up inside me. Her moxie and confidence. I must stop thinking about her. I must rid myself of this witch that has bewitched my very soul. Whilst thinking heavily of the gypsy's body movements, I suddenly found myself tripping over my ward. He stopped in the middle of the cathedral when I was escorting him back to his quarters.

His one good eye looked at me as if it could read my mind. It was strange, it almost felt like he could read my soul. I woke up this morning with a name in my head that said something like what Quasimodo said at breakfast. Regaining my footing, I straighten my robes and look back into his eye.

"Why have you stopped?" I asked bluntly.

"Something is on your mind?" He raised an eyebrow and then continued to walk forward toward the spiral staircase that lead up to the bell tower.

He was correct. There was something on my mind. A curse, a spell, a hex. I feel as if my very soul is on fire. I thought the idea of desire and lust vanished once I gave myself to the mother church, but this Romani has somehow made it awaken once again inside me. I must bring her back to the cathedral and cleanse her.

I reach out and grab Quasimodo's humped shoulder and turn him to me. He stared up at me in curiosity as I opened my mouth and made sure he could read them clearly.

"I need you to do something for me boy." I said slowly, and pointed at my lips so that he knew how important this was.

He nodded and pointed at his head to sign that he knew and he was watching. "The girl who danced for you-"

"Esmerelda. She is nice, and so pretty." He became starry eyed.

"She has cursed you too my boy. She is a witch. Remember what I told you this morning. Gypsies are evil and deserve the pyres."

"B-But she didn't seem like a bad gypsy." He looked away for a moment, but I pulled his face to look back at me.

"She put you on that throne Quasimodo. She put the crown on your head. She humiliated you in front of Paris. She must apologize to you… and to god for her sinful ways." I moved my hand in the way of the father, the son, and the holy spirit across my chest and over my heart that was pierced with cupids burning arrow.

"What would you have me do master?" He looked worried at this point and reached out for my head that I used to just cross my heart. "If she is bad… What do we do?"

"You must go out tonight while it is dark. You must find her amongst her gypsies, and bring her back here to the cathedral. We will lock her up and cleanse her soul." I say to him and caress the deformed side of his face.

Nodding he hobbled up the steps and looked back at me. "She will come back here! I will bring her." I watched him ascend the steps and in my heart, I felt it skip in anticipation. If the hunchback is successful, then I will have Esmeralda to myself in this holy sanctuary. But what is it that I have to offer for such a beautiful maiden like her? I would give her everything I have, but have only the knowledge of my studies.

I realized that for a few weeks now I have been dabbling in the arts of alchemy. If I am successful, I could possibly become richer than the King who sits happily on his throne. I could offer her all of France. Quickly striding across the cathedral, I place myself into my chambers so that I may begin this long night of impatience for her.

"I will create gold… And make you happy la belle Esmeralda. I will give you everything…"

God forgive me… The devil has already swallowed my soul and I only want to fall deeper.

~~  
 **[Saeran POV]**

I must be a better actor than I thought. I practically had Jumin eating out of the palm of my hand. I knew he was going to ask me to steal MC, but I couldn't just wait all day for him to say something. This story needs to progress in order for the curse to end, and for all of us to return to ourselves. Emphasis on ourselves; I don't know how much longer I can bare being in this body. It almost feels like I'm trapped in a strong body but isn't beautiful like any hero you'd see in a movie… Even MC looked away from me when she first saw me.

Throwing my fist against one of the bells, I felt no pain whatsoever and let out a soft curse to the bell.

"Why did I allow myself to write her name in like that… If I didn't do anything, we wouldn't be in this mess." I smacked my head against the bell a few more times before looking at my reflection in it.

"Truly a hideous sight… Not even my brother knew who I was. At least I don't look like him anymore." I softly touched the deformity on my face and hissed at my cold touch. "I'm barely even human… a monster."

Was I not a monster before all of this? I attempted the very same thing when I lived in Magenta. I was tasked with taking MC back to paradise. And now I must repeat the same task, but this time I know how this part of the story will work out. "And she will not love me. Never, not even in this story. A pitiful creature I am for thinking or hoping."

It won't really matter. Even if we get out this curse alive, there could be the chance we will all forget any events that aspire inside this world. I silently make a prayer under my breath before looking out of my tower. The sun was coming close to setting. Grabbing hold of a rope and giving a large exhale, I let myself be lowered so that I can find MC, and bring her back.

Despite me knowing I will be unsuccessful, I must progress this story to save everyone.

Eventually the darkness had overtaken all of this illusion of Paris, and I hid myself in the shadows. I was close to a nearby pub where I could hear the sound of shouts of cheers, and slurs of singing men. None of the singing was any decent, but you could tell that anyone in there was having a good time. It made up for what happened at the feast of fools and Archdecheon Jumin interrupting it for the crowd.

I was used to being close to the shadows, and waiting for MC. This was how I spent half a month waiting for her to join me in paradise, but that was to never be. A comfortable place for me to remain was the shadows at this moment; where no one can see my horrible ugliness that was cursed upon me.

A single thought crossed my mind. Should I be angry, or thankful? MC cast me as the pitiful hunchback, and Jumin Han as the pitiful priest… Who is to be pitied more? Maybe this was to be a discovery for all of us, and not just her. This was a project for her after all.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a goat chuckling and the slight chime of bells. Not the bells I play in my tower, but the bells that would hang off the side of Esmerelda's dress. Or hanging off delicately next to her soft ankle. Turning my head, I saw the white goat with a rope strung around it's rope and at the other end of the rope was MC dressed at the gypsy Esmerelda.

All at once, an overwhelming sense of excitement filled the bottom of my heart, and I leaped from my perch in the shadows and landed in front of her. I was prepared for her to scream, but she didn't seem like she was going to jump. Her eyes merely became wide as she looked at me, and grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me aside back into the shadow with her goat.

Well this is obviously not how the real story is supposed to go, could it be that MC knows she's Esmerelda as I know I am Quasimodo?

Clearing her throat, she let her goat go and smiled at me. "That's what's supposed to happen right Saeran?" She said without any hesitation.

Looking up at her, I crooked a brow and then at her goat that began to run around without a lead. "Well… More or less. But you were supposed to let go of Djali when I grabbed you."

Suddenly, her eyes became wide as she recognized that I didn't correct her when she said my name.

"Y-You're not going to ask me to call you Quasimodo? Or be confused on why I'm not screaming?" She said while looking around frantically.  
"No. But is there a reason you know it's me, and I know it's you when the others haven't reacted at all to when we call them by their name?" Hunching over to a more comfortable position, I give her a soft gaze of confusion.

She seemed relieved at this moment and then lunged down at me to hug me. It then came to me that she couldn't see all of me. Just my hunched form. Only this morning she saw my deformed face, but in the shadows, she can only see my silhouette. "I am ugly." I said softly into her ear as she hugged me.

"I know.. I'm sorry." She seemed sympathetic. It didn't matter. We don't have time to talk all evening. I tightly wrapped my arms around her and lifted her over my should and began to run.

"W-Wait, Saeran!" She shouted as she found herself being taken away from the shadows, and now riding on the shoulder of the monster Quasimodo who was told to bring her back.

"I must bring you back. You know who wants to see you." I simply said. Then with a small laugh and hobble, I spoke once more. "Scream Esmeralda… Someone needs to save you." It felt terrible to say that, but this was how the story is supposed to go. She can't let me take her to Jumin. This is the night she is supposed to fall in love with V.

 **[V POV]**

Hunched over on a horse, I began to sigh out of relief when I heard the sound of a scream just down an alleyway. It was common to hear the sound of a screaming women at night, and be the knight in shining armor for them all. Their eyes of shining passion as they looked at me was a figure of marvel as I lead them back home and bid them adieu and returned to my sun. Tonight will prove would be no different.

Charging my horse down the alley way, I followed the sounds of a shrill scream until I found the sigh of a monster carrying a girl on his shoulder down toward the cathedral square. What an unholy sight to behold! A monster so desperate for love he has taken it into his own hands to find a woman for himself. In a way it's almost poetic, and I felt bad for the creature, and yet justice must be served!

Swiftly ripping the woman from the hunchback's should and pulling her onto my mount, I let the men that followed behind me drag him down to his feet and tie him up with the thickest rope we had on us. A monster like him was capable of a fight, and it was obvious to see. He was able to throw one of my men completely across the square without a sign of exhaustion.

"Take him to the Bastille, he will serve trial in the morning." I shouted at my men who had finally secured a grip on the white haired beast. "Now, let's take a look at what he was trying to take." Caressing the shoulder of my passenger, she lifted her head quickly and then stared at me with a bit of fright in her eyes.

"V?" She said softly and out of breath.

"V? That is a nickname I have! I am known as Captain Phoebus de Châteauper."

"Captain Phoebus?" She muttered as she tried to balance between the horse's neck and my lap. "Like… The Captain of the guard, and the.. No I shouldn't say that, should I? Well, Captain Phoebus… Thanks for the rescue. I guess."  
"You guess?" She seemed to be playing hard to get. What was so strange about her was this enticing look in her eyes that seemed to drag me in. I walked my stallion under a streetlight so that I could look at her in a more finer light, and my eyes were not ready to behold the creature that I had saved.

"You're… A gypsy?" I said with curiosity.

She nodded and then leapt down off my horse. What a strange woman. Dismounting, I stood next to her and grabbed her hand. "I have told you my name, but please Madame, tell me yours." I lifted it close to my lips but waited to hear her name.

"Esmerelda. But, please call me Esme." She cooed out to me, and I planted a soft kiss on her beautiful hand. Such soft hands as well. The kind that dance and clap. The kind that beg for money, and yet so pure.

Looking up into her eyes that glowed with the moon light, I whispered out to her as if to caress her with my words. "Is there any possible chance of seeing you again mademoiselle Esmerelda?"

Batting her eyes at me, she began to skip back words with a teasing smile placed upon her crimson lips. "Perhaps. Most likely. It is, after all, how we must play our parts. Right, dear Phoebus?" Laughing, she waved her fingers at me and blew a kiss before sprinting into the shadows of the street.

Feeling at a loss for words, and only astounded by beauty, I stood still for moments in the chilled wintery night. My heart was racing quickly, and my entire being felt warm as if by a fire; and yet it was still January. It was as if I had become drunk off love.

Was I already not in love with my beautiful Fleur de Lys? My sun, my glorious reason to be?

And yet, this… Gypsy draws me to her like a moth to a flame. I desire to see her again.

"Forgive me Fleur de Lys… I believe now… I am a man who has known no love… Until now."


	4. The Marriage of A Poet

**Chapter 4**

[Yoosung POV]

In a wobbling and drunken fashion, I was finally able to escape the tavern with my clothes still on my back. I won't go into too much detail, but I was able to find enough money just to get a beer or two in me, and now I can't stop hiccuping.

Stumbling out onto the cold streets of Paris that were only lit up with dim street lights, I try to find a near hay stack I can collapse onto. Never will a poet like me find a bed to rest my head upon. My play was an utter failure, and so is my life in love.

With another hiccup, I hear the cry of a young goat galloping past me. I must have drunken too much, or I am more of a light weight than I thought. Following this estranged creature through the dark alleyways I find myself coming upon figures and shadows crouched and hunched over. Beggars no doubt. The same that hung around earlier during the feast of fools. I wouldn't let them stop me from my pursuit of this white angel in the darkness. It could be my only saving grace! But as soon as I let out another hiccup, I felt an arm wrap around my leg, and then from another angle fingers tightening a grip around my ankle. I soon lost balance and fell forward into a man who appeared to have no legs and used only the support of a cart to be mobile.

Looking up at the man, he seemed frightfully angry and snarled at me. "I uhm, am dreadfully sorry, I seem to have lost my balance… And my way." Trying to regain my footing, I fall once again, but this time the man catches me.

"A thousand gratitude's sir, but I must be going. I-I need to find that goat." I shuddered when I suddenly felt myself being lifted up by the man who appeared to have no legs. How could it possibly be? I could have sworn that he was a cripple?

"A goat huh? The only thing I see that looks like an animal around here… Is you. Filthy trespasser." He snarled at me and began to show me his rotten teeth that began to turn into a smile.

"Trespasser? There must be some mistake! All I have done was-mph!" A piece of rotten fabric was shoved into my mouth and I was prevented from speaking any longer. The taste and smell filling my senses almost caused me to pass out. It smelled like an un-mucked out stable… with animals left for dead within.

"What have you got there Frederique?" I heard a lady's voice come from behind me as she slipped her arms around my waist and into my pockets. "You found a man with no money!"

"I've seen't him… ez dah man in front of the ol' cathedral tryn'a put on some play or what not." Another woman's voice chimed in sounding more husk and old.

"A poet huh?" The man referred to as Frederique laughed and began to drag me by my collar deeper into the shadows of Paris. "Let's see what Clopin has to say about this one, eh?"

"Most likely we'll let em' hang like the rest of em!"

"Nah, can't be! He's too pretty to be hung. Look at his pretty hair!"

"Quiet wench! It's up to Clopin. He's the king, and what he says is law. After all, this trespasser must follow all the rules of the court of miracles like we have to follow the rules of his precious Paris." The man spit into my face and I started to mutter and sigh. It seemed I was in a troubling situation at this moment. That goat was no angel in the darkness… it was a devil in a shroud of white leading me to death!

I was soon surrounded by the sound of laughs and cheers of men and women alike with mixed accents that ticked the hairs on my skin. My whole body felt like it was going to be sick, and reject this rotten cloth in my mouth. This taste surely was going to linger on my tongue for weeks if I managed to even get out of here alive.

Being dragged to a man with red shaggy hair, and rustled clothes, he turned to look at me and gave me a large grin as if to see an old friend. "Oh ho ho ho, what do we have here?" He spoke and grabbed the cloth from my mouth and pulled it out. "Feel better there friend? Now, let's talk about why you're here, and your sentence."

"My-My sentence? Whatever do you mean? I only followed a goat!" I protested at the man as he continued to smile and write on a piece of papyrus with a quill made of pigeon's feather.

"Followed…a…goat." He wrote every word I said, and then looked back at me with glistening eyes. "And then you found us. Which is naughty, very very naughty my dear poet. For this there is only one sentence I can give to you."

He paused and then tapped his chin. He looked like he was really having fun with carrying out these words to me. I was hanging on every word he said, and anticipating for whatever torture the king of the gypsies would put me through.

"You will hang." Snapping his fingers, I felt rough tugging and my feet being dragged beneath me as I uselessly struggled in the arms of someone much stronger than me. I cried out to the king in fear for my life.

"B-But we met earlier today. At the feast! How could you do this to me? Didn't you say yourself that I was useless to you?" I tried to find some sort of way to save myself in this situation. As I began to plead for my life, I found myself standing on the shoulders of a very large woman and just two men tightening a rope around my neck. The king of thieves looked at me like I was a fine piece of art work and laughed.

"Ah, that I did. You're that poet with the empty pockets and terrible play. Jehan truly did make you look like a fool. But here's the think dear poet." He stepped closer to me and looked up as I stared down into his piercing eyes.

"You stumbled into the kingdom of the downtrodden without ever having being trod upon. Despite it being a lonesome goat that lead you to us, there is no reason for you to be one of us. You live the life of a poet do you not? You have ways with words when all we can do is dance and sell ourselves for money." Taking a breath he sighed and turned around to look at the crowed that began to gather to witness my fate.

"What say you? Should I allow this 'poet' to become like us?" There were various boos from the crowd, and some whistles. "Alright, alright, hush it. Let's let the women decide then?" Turning back to look at me, I saw a very sly grin on his face. "By the law of Bohemia, you may be saved from the rope on one condition."

"Anything, please tell me what I must do?" I pleaded at him, I pushed down the tears pulling into my eyes, but I would not show fear now if I were to stand up to the king who laughed in the face of it all.

"Well, its simple really. A woman amongst us must choose to marry you! Once all is said and done, you'll be one of us." He laughed and then his eyes became almost wolf-like in a second as if about to swallow his prey whole. "If no woman chooses you… Then your bride will be the rope." Everyone started to burst out in laughter as if this was some sort of show and they expected me to die no matter what. So I did what any other man would do who would struggle for their life…

I begged.

"Any woman please, I will make a suitable husband I promise! Please, I am a good man, I promise!" I spat these words like a waterfall into an empty basin that would never fill. Women just looked at me and sized me up. Some would touch my legs and feel my shoulders, while others would sniff me and run their crooked fingers through my hair. All I could do was shiver and pray that one, just one, amoungst them would tell their king they wanted me for some play toy. I couldn't care. Just don't let me die here God.

"Going once?..." Clopin began to speak and raised his fingers up to the roused crowd who waited to see the woman drop me. I could barely balance on her shoulders anymore.

"Going twice?..." Please god, If I am to die, let me just see her again. Her beautiful skin, and wondrous gaze. I just wish to see her is all I beg.

"And…..Sol-" A voice rose up from the crowd in a panicked matter and began to rush forward. The woman who was my perch began to shift, and allowed me to remain on her shoulders. I looked for who the voice was.

"You my belle?" Clopin looked as the woman who danced earlier at the feast rose from the crowd and came face to face with him.

"I won't let you hang him. I will marry him." She said softly looking up at him and then back at Clopin.

"If it is he you want Esmeralda, then it is HE you shall have!" I felt a sudden shift as I was being taken down from the perch, and the rope being released from my neck. Soon I was face to face with the woman who declared she would be my bride. La belle Esmeralda. God you truly do listen.

We stared into each others eyes for a moment while Clopin stood between us holding a large urn. He passed it to Esmeralda, and then she passed it to me. "You're suppose to throw it on the ground."

"Ah-ah? Right!" I threw the urn onto the ground below us and it shattered into four different pieces. Clopin raised his hands above our heads and began to speak in a different dialect. It must have been Romani.

Nodding, he looked at me and said "Brother, she is your wife for four years." Then back to Esmeralda and smiled while saying "Sister, he is your husband for four years." He hummed a bit, and then whispered out an "Amen".

I could see Esmeralda sighing at this moment when the crowd suddenly burst into laughter at this one moment. It's so strange, one moment you are to be hanged and the next you are welcomed into the court of miracles through marriage. Then I felt her grasp my wrist and tug it to a different direction. My bride wished to talk to me?

"Come Yoosung, I have to feed you now, and as you some questions." She said leading me into a room further down a corridor. "Don't worry, I'll feed you too. You're probably hungry. I am too. Who'd knew you could get hungry in a story."

It didn't matter what she called me. The name sounded familiar as if from my dream this morning. If my angel has chosen this name for me, then let it be mine for the rest of my life till I die an old and happy man.

[MC POV]

This is still merely the beginning of my story, but now Yoosung is here. I feel a sense of ease wash over me as I look at the back of his bright yellow curls as he digs into the food I prepared for him. He wasted no time whatsoever to dig in. I know Pierre Gringore is basically a starved artist of some sort, and he marries Esmeralda through the law of Bohemia which saves his life an secures a sanctuary for him with Clopin and the Court of Miracles. Sighing, I refill his goblet with water to help wash down a piece of bread he was scarfing down into his mouth.

Yoosung didn't seem to really care that I called him by his real name. Perhaps he knows who he is just like me and Saeran know who we are? But he seemed very Pierre like back there while his life was on the line. Perhaps everyone is a mix of themselves from reality, and the characters created by Victor Hugo.

"What has my wife in such a philosophical state?" Yoosung's soft and charming voice rouse up and began to wake me from my enigmatic thoughts.

"I am thinking about my life. And where I am along with my friends. I want to help them and myself, but there is only one way to do that." I say looking at him. I wobble back in forth and wrap my arms around myself.

Yoosung stood up from his seat, and walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me. "I wouldn't dare leave you in such a position to think on your own like this. I will lend you all my support." I felt his breath on the back of my neck, and my body began to feel very hot. This moment was intense. I could feel him tightening around me, and nuzzling into my neck. I had to break free from this moment, or else I just might fail the entire story.

Esmeralda can't love Pierre. She loves Pheobus. But in this sense of struggle and feeling alone, just a few more seconds of imagining this to be Yoosung and I is all I desire. As much as I love having Saeyoung around, he is merely having fun with all his other pawns like he would in his bunker. It's just me and Yoosung.

"Esmeralda…" Yoosung whispered into my ear and began to nibble on my earlobe. No, this wasn't Yoosung, I have to remind myself! This is Pierre's character in Yoosung's form! I can't let myself ruin this scene or else I will let everyone down!

Clearing my throat, I pulled away from Yoosung and huffed at him holding a dagger to his throat. He looked scared and saddened like a puppy thrown out into the rain. "Forgive me Yoosung, but it has to be this way."

"You mean… You didn't save me out of love?" He asked shakily.

I pulled the dagger back and looked at him in bewilderment. "Would you rather let me let them hang you? I wouldn't let you die. Besides you can't die."

"Than what am I to be to you? Your… Yoosung or whatever you called me." He said as he began to recover from the sudden shock.

"We are to be like brother and sister…" I said thinking about the novel. This is what is said, this is what must be told. But I also must ask him a very important question. "Yoosung… Do you know Latin?"

"As a poet, it is pertinent that I know it. It's a second nature to me. Like the language of love." He giggled, and smiled at me. "Why do you ask?"

"Could you tell me what… Pheobus means?" I said looking away from him and playing with my dress. A sudden rush of excitement washed over me as I said the name aloud. This must be what feeling like the character is like. There was a large smile across my face as all I could think about was V saving mean earlier this evening.

"If I do recall that word means….. The sun."

"The sun. Oh, very much so the sun." Smiling I turned back at Yoosung who looked like he was working out a puzzle in his mind.

"You couldn't mean the Captain of the Guard, Pheobus? Could you? I don't know what it is, but every time I look at him I get so furious. Esmeralda, please don't tell me it is him that you love."

Sighing heavily, I couldn't lie to Yoosung. And yet, it wasn't I who loved Pheobus. It was Esmeralda. I could feel a heartbeat that wasn't my own racing when the name was merely spoken of. I wouldn't be like this in my day to day life back at home. But this is the story after all, and it must progress.

"I love him. With all my heart." These were the words of Esmeralda.

Looking a bit broken hearted, Yoosung caressed my cheek and smiled. "Then I support you in your love. Just please, don't get yourself hurt."

I reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "I won't. I promise. Goodnight dear husband." I ran into a separate adjacent room to go to bed, and out came my goat Djali to greet Yoosung. As I closed the door I put my ear against it and hear Yoosung began talking to her and laughing about his day. Smiling, I turned around and skipped to the bed while playing with the tassels on my dress.

"Don't worry everyone. We can get through this together." Sighing heavily, I crawled into my bed and curled up into a ball. Then I felt a sudden shiver run down my spine. A sense of fear and anticipation was welling up inside me as the thought of tomorrow came.


	5. A humerous trial, and Fleur de Lys

**Chapter 5**

[Zen POV]

Within a crowd stands a lone man who truly knows no destiny of his own, and purely lives in the moment of every second of everyday. That is who I am; Jehan Frollo. The women want me, and the men desire to be me. Alas, I must deal with my strict brother who nags at me every waking hour of his insufferable life to merely feel that he is making some impact on me. Dearest Claude, you have done but the opposite and caused me to hate your pious life and what it has to offer me. Although, the high status you hold makes me become a respected citizen, you are still trying to boss me around as if you were a father to me. Act like a friend, act like my brother for once and try to understand what I want.

I walk amongst friends who take me away from the blessed cathedral under the name of Notre Dame, and find myself in a courtroom amongst onlookers and people who wish to hear the jestering tales of those either being sent to gallows, or just to be merely flogged. I must admit, I am simply bored just sitting and waiting for something exciting.

A man sits besides me coughing and writing various notes down on a piece of parchment he propped on his lap. I recognize this fellow well. In fact I ruined his shining moment yesterday during the festival. Tapping his shoulder, I get his attention and look deeply into his purple eyes. I truly am such a marvel to look at, and his eyes make me look so much better. Coughing, I smile and then begin to speak.

"Might you be that young poet in the crowd yesterday talking to us about your anus?" I snickered at him and waited for a response.

"Indeed… However, that was you who regarded Jupiter as the god Uranus. And it's pronounced your-an-ass." Looking quite bold, he resumed to write on his parchment. My goodness, it seems the poet has grew some overnight. Sticking my hand out to him in friendly gesture, he takes it and shakes firmly.

"Pierre Gringoire… " He said with his nose back into his parchment.

"I am Jehan Frollo. Brother to the archdeacon and scoundrel of the streets."

"Your name becomes you. I see why you have decided to become a scoundrel. It's possibly to spite your brother since he is considered a holy man. You in turn have chosen a life completely opposite of him equating to the world's equilibrium and keeping all forms of personality balanced between pious, and pitiful." He exhaled and then blinked a few times.

"What a mouthful. Perhaps you are also a philosopher?"

"In times, I like to assume I am. However, what is a philosopher if not a man who knows the experience of love." He seemed troubled.

"A love sick poet and philosopher? Should it not be you up there in the stands marking whether a man is innocent or not, and finding some connection to their punishment poetic in a way?" I responded to him as he took a moment to think about my question.

"I believe today's judge is quite a form of entertainment young Frollo. Not only is he a fool, but he is almost deaf. All these guilty and innocence are getting the incorrect punishments. In a way, its poetic, but also tragic." He paused and then let out a soft chuckle. "It takes my mind off some things to say the least. Like imagining what the judge could be hearing versus what the defendants are saying."

"Truly a marvelous jest. I find this boisterous man to be quite a laugh." I snicker at the man with a javelin and sits with a proud face plastered onto his wrinkles. He thinks he's doing good when really he's hurting the innocent. And no one in this room is truly helping him. "I guess it's my turn to be charitable to the next man who comes to receive punishment." I sighed and began looking over the head of the crowd to see who they were dragging by the wrists to the stand.

"My god… it couldn't be." I swore my eyes were deceiving me when I noticed white hair stricken with blotches of red, and a single piercing eye the shade of mint leaf. "It's Quasimodo." Laughing to myself for a bit, I see Pierre with a confused look upon his face.

"This should be interesting." He said and put his quill behind his ear.

"I should say so. A deaf judge versus a deaf and half blind bell ringer. I have no clue what could possibly come of this but merely entertainment." Biting my tongue, I wait to hear my bell ringer friend to speak. He may be my brother's ward, but Quasimodo is still a gentle person. I have no idea what would cause someone like him to be caught up in a mess and then receiving a sentencing from a judge in the courtroom.

"I do suppose I should defend him. After all, my brother would kill me if I let his ward get something worse than flogging." Standing up I walk close to the stand so that I can hear the mumbles of the judge. Turning my head, Quasimodo has his head down and appears as if he already knows what's going to happen.

I slam my hand down in front of the judge and cause him to look right at me.

"A-Agh, Jehan Frollo, what have you to do with the guilty party?" He sputtered at me and coughed out every syllable.

"You're so deaf, if I insulted you, you would have no clue what I would have said would you?" I turn back to the crowd staring at me with anticipation, and then I hear the judge answer me.

"Mhmmm, yes. Now what is it you wanted to say?" He smiled and played with the corner of his paper as I stepped in front of the stand and bellowed.

"Dear judge you are an old buffoon with the face of a donkey." The crowd began to laugh, and I also heard the laugh of the judge.

"Quite, indeed, yes." He laughed as well as if to try and understand what I was saying was funny, but he didn't know it was a shot at him. Smiling, I look at him and then mouth words to him as I have seen my brother mouth words to Quasimodo.

"What is this man's crime?" I mouth slowly.

"Ah, this thing attacked a woman in the night." He sputtered once again, and I felt as if this was a big lie. How could Quasimodo force himself onto a woman? Could he really have found such a desire to leave his tower and take someone back?

"He is but a man, Judge. He has desires, and needs like any of us. Right men?" The crowd behind me cheered, but I noticed Pierre looking amused.

"He is a thing, not a man."

"If my brother heard you say that, he would have you take all the punishments you've ever sentenced to any man. Claude Frollo loves his ward very much."

"Then it would be him here looking after him and not his foolish brat of a brother." The judge replied to me as if attempting to hit a nerve. I just nodded and then waved my hands around aimlessly.

"Alright, you have a point. But he is the archdeacon, and not some brat like me. He has things to take care of, just like Quasimodo has things he needs to take care of. He's the bell ringer after all."

"Don't take that tone with me young Frollo!" And this was the moment I knew he wasn't going to listen to me, because he never was listening to begin with. He was deaf! He turned to Quasimodo and then began to question him.

"What's your name."

Quasimodo looked down at the floor and then back up at the Judge. "Sae-… No. Q-uasi-mo-do." He said slowly and loudly. But it seemed as if he was going to say something else. "Bell ringer."

The judge nodded and then began to look between a few papers. "Do you have anything to say about the accusations put to you? Regarding assaulting a woman at night?"

Quasimodo gave a heavy sigh and then blinked at me as if he was bored. "Quasi… modo." He repeated his name once again as if the Judge didn't understand the first time.

"My god… Quasimodo is nearly deaf because of the bells, and this buffoon can't hear him back. This is just madness." I said as I looked into the crowd and they laughed at this irony.

"For your crime, you will be thrashed fifty times, and left in the square for public amusement for an hour." The judge slammed his hand on the table, but I quickly ran up to the podium.

"Sir, he is deaf. He can't reply much to you as you can't reply to him." I attempted to defend Quasimodo, but then I was responded with…

"Ah, is that so? Two hours of public shame then." He slammed the javelin down, and Quasimodo was dragged away from where he stood, merely repeating his name.

"My brother is going to die of shock when he sees this... " Turning back and sitting next to Pierre once again, I sigh heavily.

"Good show Jehan. It's a shame neither party could hear you, and twas only the crowd that heard all." Writing down notes on his parchment once again, I felt a twinge of guilt sitting inside me as if I just allowed a friend to receive punishment. But Quasimodo wasn't much of a friend… More like a servant. But somewhere in my mind I had imagined defending the soul as if I've known him… in another life perhaps?

 ****

[V POV]

"Phoebus… Phoebus…" A soft light voice was calling out to me. I was looking out into space, repeating the events of last night in my head over and over. Beautiful, and sweet Esmeralda smiling at me, and her soft hands in mine.

"Hello Phoebus? It's your fiance talking." Blinking, I turned to see a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, and lovely green eyes. It was my sun, Fleur de Lys. "Ah, sorry my love." I grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it gently. "I was thinking about something last night."

She smiled at me and scooted herself closer to my body. "Something exciting? Do you want to tell me?" Her eyes were looking directly into mine, and I could feel her hands caressing my cheek slowly. I moved my head so that I could kiss her palm and continue this gaze of love.

"It's nothing too interesting my love. Just a maiden in distress, and saving her from a horrible beast in the night."

"Horrible? It couldn't have been that bad." She spoke with a tease to her voice. I smiled at her and shook my head.

"It was a hideous creature. He has a hunch, and a crooked walk. One of his eyelids hang so low the man is blind." I said trying to recall the looks of the hunchback.

"The bell ringer?" She asked while playing with my lapel.

"I assume he is." Taking a moment to think about the man, I see a different mans image in my mind. As if he were able to stand straight and I could look directly into both his eyes. A velvet suit was wrapped around him, and his hands hidden in black gloves. This had to be some lord or nobleman I was imagining. Nothing like the man I apprehended last night.

"What are you thinking about?" I hear Fleur de Lys voice tickle my ear as I focus back to her.

"I thought I saw that man before. But… not dressed in rags and with a hunch parallel to his deformity." 

"Who did you see?"

"A white haired man with a cold stare… But gentle and unknowing all at once. His eyes a mix of blue and green, but almost as bright as the moon that reflects off his hair."

"Hmm, that does remind me of someone." She made me look into her eyes and she smiled. "A man named Ray looks similar to that. Such a useful man he is."

"Ray?" I repeat the words and a different man pops into my head. The same figure, but in darker clothes. His arm was blacked out with ink, and his eyes crazed with desperation. Bent on vengeance or anger, I couldn't tell. He was unknown…

"Jihyun?" The voice called to me again and I looked at my beautiful fiancee smiling at me warmly. "Who did you see last night?"

"I saw… Saeran." I repeated as if not quite knowing what I was saying completely.

"So he's here then? I wonder if Yoosung is here as well." She stood up and began to walk to the window.

"Yoosung? My love, what are you talking about." I come up behind her and hold her hands in my own.

"You have lost your memories and are posing as Phoebus. This is a story we are living in, and it's been created for the device of reviving me. So far, all I can do is try to bring back your own memories." She sighed and leaned her cheek on he hand. "It's possible that Saeran is Quasimodo and MC has made herself into Esmeralda. If that's the case… then they'll be dead by the end of the story and I will take her place during the final bow."

"What are you talking about Fleur de Lys?"

"No.. Don't call me that. You know who I am, so call me by that name."

"R-Rika." I stuttered out with almost a sense of fear.

"That's correct my sun. Now you must continue this plot. After all, it is us in the end who survive." She pushed a hair back behind my ear and kissed the top of my head. "They'll all be dead, and it will leave just you and me my sun."

"I don't understand. Have you been reading something to make you talk like this? With all these foreign names, and strange talk of a story?" I was worried about her for a moment before she tightened her grip on my hand to the point where I winced.

"It's nothing you need to be concerned with right now Jihyun. Just make sure to see that girl again."

Was she giving me permission to seek out Esmeralda? But how could Fleur de Lys know about her?

"What girl?" I repeated.

She smiled at me and then pressed her thumbs to my lips. "Just make sure to see the gypsy girl again and really tell her how you feel before you let her slip out of your hands again." I felt my body shiver, and I stepped back.

"I.. I have to go." I stepped out of the room leaving Fleur de Lys alone in there to stare out her balcony. In my mind, I knew what she was saying, but there was a mental block up to deny all she was saying. But how can a man not resist an invitation to see a beautiful maiden such as Esmeralda once again? She even told me to seek her out! My heart was pounding a mile a minute, and all I could think about was Esmeralda.

The last words of Fleur de Lys were drowned out by the sound of a tambourine beating against my mind. A crowd was cheering outside, and I could only imagine seeing la Esmeralda. Opening the doors I saw before me gypsies dancing and a goat spelling out words as if by magic. I wanted to approach, but a fellow guard grabbed me by the shoulder.

"Captain, we are to be reported in at the Bastille."

Hesitating, I looked within the crowd for the brunette hair I adored to see, and saw it flying in the wind mixed with the tune of the tambourine. I felt a pain in my chest as I turned away her smiling face, and followed my guard away.

I looked back at her and blew a kiss to her. She jumped up excitedly, and began to dance around more fervently. Belle, what a woman to lay my eyes upon. What man would deny her to save their soul. To merely kiss her, I'd let the devil swallow me whole.

"Captain?" My guard repeated to me once again.

I grinned and then nodded. "I have a rose to open up tonight, so let us make haste." As we left the square, the sound of tambourines became more distant, but still ever present inside my head… as if a picture was placed there so I could look at her smile in my mind for hours.


	6. Water, and a Little Pity

**Chapter 6**

[Jumin POV]

I carved words delicately into the stone of my home. These Greek words were to read out all that I felt, and it was I the true scholar who knew the translation alone. Dusting off the stone, I look at my handiwork.

Anarkia was carved deeply into the cold stone of Notre Dame, and I slowly ran my fingers over it to feel the power of this word alone. It truly felt like fate for a man such as me to write powerful letters such as this. Sighing heavily, I could only imagine Esmeralda dancing in the sunshine like she did yesterday. It was as if God himself was giving her a spotlight, but yet she danced on the coals of hell without catching fire. Truly she must be a witch to curse her way into my melancholy heart.

The sound of distant beats and chimes started to fill my head. I turned to look around an arch of the cathedral to notice gypsies dancing in the square once again. But there was something a bit odd about this scene. The poet from yesterday stood among them juggling multi colored balls, and dancing along to the sound of Esmeralda's tambourine. How could a scholar like him become something as filthy as a gypsy heathen?

His purple eyes caught my hateful stare of disapproval, and he began to run toward me. Does he wish to ask forgiveness when he has dared to already ignore God's light.

"Archdeacon Frollo! What a pleasure to see you." He bowed his head and then stuck his hand into his pocket to pull out a small piece of parchment rolled up into a scroll. I kept my hands crossed within my robes as I stared down at him in beguilement.

"You dance with the gypsy's? You entertain alongside them, and collect the gold thrown at you like a hungry peasant. Are you not the man I saw in the square trying to present your play to a rowdy crowd without fear of mockery?" I hissed out at him in disapproval, and he seemed to flinch at that.

"Father, I have no choice. If I am to live in the court of miracles, I must also learn to make my form of wage for myself and my wife." He said clutching his scroll to his chest in what looked like fear. Marriage? How is it possible for a poet like him to be married in one night.

"You are a married man? To whose hand have you taken in matrimony to make you dance with swine?" I raised a brow as he turned to look into the crowd and sigh heavily in a manner of hopeless love.

"I have married la belle Esmeralda. She is-" I cut him off once he spoke her name, and I grabbed him tightly by the color to stare into his eyes now filled with fear.  
"You are married to that witch? What purpose have you to marry and sleep with the devil's mistress?" I spat at him with raging anger… and jealousy for a man who has taken her away from me within a night. I am not young like this poet. I am far older, but still a wise man am I not?

"Monsieur, she is my wife, yes! But we have not consummated the marriage…" I loosened my grip on his collar.

"You mean… that creature is as pure as the virgin Mary herself?" I spoke softly and with a sense of hope pitched into my voice.

"Like a newborn lamb, father. She rather look at me like a brother than a husband." He sounded disappointed and then insisted I take the parchment from him once again. "I wrote about it last night after she fell asleep. Mere poetry of a loveless husband. It's rather inspiring, and I thought a scholarly man such as yourself would know about something like this due to your nature being a holy man of the church."

I reached out and gripped the parchment firmly before unraveling it to read out the words this young poet had written out. He writes about following a symbol of light into the night before being saved by an angel who shared a tender moment, but did not dirty herself for the sake of love… but talks of another man to the one she saved.

"Another man… Who does she regard to you to whom she actually loves?" I asked while holding the parchment close to my chest.

"She seems to have fallen in love with the Captain of the Guard, a Phoebus de Chateaupers." Biting my lip and tucking the scroll away, I hiss out the name given to me.

"Phoebus…" A man born to be loved by countless women, even the angel that rose from hell herself. If he were to take her purity, I would never be able to live with myself for having to let her lose it to a man like him. God would shake the very earth…

"Father, what is written here on this stone? It reads Anarkia… ?" The poet's voice echoes in my head. I wasn't paying attention, and he somehow walked past me to see the carving in the wall. I turn to face him and clear my throat.

"You are a man possessed… Anarkia is the Greek word for fatality." I said approaching him and ripping his hand off the stone.

"Strange for such a word to be written here. Fatality written into the very stone of Notre Dame." He looked like he was puzzling something within his mind as he read it aloud to himself once again. "But then again, I suppose that's fate itself." He gave me a warm smile, and in return, I felt the corners of my mouth turning as well as if to smile at a friend. I barely know this poet, and yet there is an instinct inside me telling me to be kindly to him.

"Dear god… is it really time already?" He turned his attention behind me to a crowd of screaming people yelling curses and profanity as some guards pulled a form through the crowd to the great wheel.

"A man to be punished?" I asked with curiosity.

The blonde man nodded and then pulled another parchment of paper out. "Yes, I was at the trial. Your brother seemed to try and defend this man since he is your ward after all."

My eyes widened as I looked back to see Quasimodo being tied to the wheel and his shirt being ripped off to expose his pale back and abnormal hump. "Q-Quasimodo? How did he let himself get captured?"

"Apparently he was arrested for assaulting a woman late last night."

"The fool! He's gotten himself captured and now will face punishment… For failing me." I whispered the last part out to myself, and I could hear the poet sighing heavily. "Such a sad turn of events. Can you not do anything Monsieur? He is your ward after all."

I shook my head and stared coldly at Quasimodo as the enforcer began to whip his back with the tail of a thousand cats. "This is a learning moment for him… He has failed to listen to me and put himself in this moment. After all… I am the one who tries to tell him to hide in the tower, but yet he has gone and gotten himself captured."

Nodding, the poet stood still and watched as the whip was brought down with a great force onto the back of my ward. Even the first whip began to draw blood on his back, and it seeped out slowly almost painting his hunch a crimson red. I turned around and began walking back into the cathedral.

But not before I turned my head one last time to meet the mint eyes that stared at me with betrayal and sadness.

[MC POV]

The music that I danced to suddenly came to an abrupt stop and soon became an overwhelming sound of boo's and sounds of laughter. Turning my head I saw a hunch over body being spun around on a wheel in front of the cathedral, and being whipped repeatedly without any form of mercy.

The quick sound of the whip shook me to my core as the cracking sound on skin could be heard throughout the square and began to blend with the voices of the people to stare at watched at the man being punished. I shot my gaze closer to the wheel and soon realized this was the scene where the hunchback gets punished for trying to kidnap Esmeralda.

My heart began to burn with every crack that was shot down onto Saeran's back. This was my fault. I put him in this position, and now he's suffering. Could he be feeling actual pain on that wicked hunch this story has created for him?

A hand grabbed onto my wrist and I turned around to face the man who requested my attention. It was Saeyoung who looked just as pained as Saeran on the wheel. He looked like he was going to cry for this stranger, this deformed man he barely even knew.

"No man deserves this… " He said under his breath. "He's… like us."

"Like a brother?" I asked, seeing if I could trigger any memories in Saeyoung. Blinking multiple times before looking back at me, he nodded slightly. "In a way.. I suppose." He responded.

"Wa… ter." The crowd grew silent and only the voice of the hunchback began to rise up from the dead cheers.

"Water… Please." He repeated without lifting his sorrowful head. His white bangs drooped in front of his face, and it seemed like he was trying to hide any tears he possibly shed while being whipped. Even now, he is trying to remain stronger than anyone else around him.

The crowd began to mock him and repeated what he said. A small child soon threw a wet and dirty rag at him, and it only made Saeran more desperate. That moment, I caught his eyes with my own. I was compelled to move forward to him.

Both Saeyoung and I moved through the crowd until we eventually arrived at the wheel. Saeyoung removed a flask of water from his satchel and handed it to me. As I grabbed it, I felt my heartbeat in my ears as I walked up crooked steps to the wheel. This man was suppose to be my kidnapper, but here he sat in pain, and begging like any other normal man. This is the vulnerability of Quasimodo. But still, all I could see was Saeran, and him trying to be stronger than he appeared.

I grabbed a handkerchief that I kept close to my chest, and began to dab softly at his drying tears. He refused to look at me now.

"Hey… It's okay." I said softly. "I came back didn't I?" At that moment, his eye opened and stared right at me. I jumped back a bit and then regained my balance. I held up Saeyoung's flask to his lips and allowed him to begin drinking the water. He drank eagerly, and I watched as he tried to get every last drop with his tongue. As I pulled the flash back he laid his head down once more to where my hands were as if to kiss them in appreciation. I leaned down and placed my head onto his head, and to this the crowd burst into a shocked sigh. I ran my hand down his back and brought his shirt back over his back to save him dignity.

"You don't need to act tough Saeran. I know how hard you are trying for everyone's sake to get through this story. I'm trying too." I looked to my side to see a hourglass ticking time away with sand falling down into the next vial. There wasn't much privacy up here, and I couldn't do much for Saeran at this point besides giving him water.

"I'm not trying to act tough… The character comes in through the skin and then becomes me. I'm sure you've felt those moments too when you've danced." He said silently just loud enough for me to hear. "But… I am trying."

I snuck my hand down my leg in search of my dagger and pulled it up quietly so that the man with the whip wouldn't notice me attempting to free the hunchback.

"What are you doing?" I heard Saeran's voice softly.

"Setting you free. I can't bare to see you up here like this anymore. You have to go back into the cathedral and stay safe inside."

"We can't disobey how the actual story goes MC. You're not even supposed to be up here with me that long… You may cause your knight in shining armor to become jealous." He retorted to me.

"H-He's not here. And I can damn well do as I please. I got us into this mess, I will get us out however I want!" I quickly snap the rope keeping Saeran down, and find myself being ripped off of Saeran.

I found myself soon flung into the crowd and being picked up by Saeyoung. The people seemed to be still in shock at my kindness toward the deformity they were just making fun of. As Saeyoung ran through the crowd holding me and scolding me for my stupidity, he called out to Yoosung who was standing beside Jumin in front of the Cathedral.

I cast my eye up toward the front of the cathedral to see Searan hobbling in through the large doors with Jumin's eyes watching him move the entire time. But once Saeran was inside, Jumin's eyes quickly flashed toward me like fire. I saw fire in his eyes yet felt this cold shiver run down my spin. It was the most bizarre feeling I can describe, and hope to never feel again while I look at my friend Jumin.

But… He's not my friend in this story. He's the one who sent Saeran after me right? This isn't the Jumin Han I know back in reality.

[Saeran POV]

My lips were still wet as I stumbled onto the cold floor of the cathedral. I could still feel the warmth of her touch upon my cheek. Other than my wet lips, the tears on my cheeks began to fall once again. The character within me was rising out once again and crying out of pure joy due to being caressed.

Caressed by a beautiful woman.

I began to stumble back onto my feet and make my way toward the flickering lights of candles near the rose window. I huffed heavily and clung to the heavy stone, tucking my disfigurement against its cold touch. This felt like pain in my chest more than anything I knew. I had her all to myself, but she would be pulled away eventually. Just as she always has been. Taken away by someone else, or something else. Not to be mine.

Letting out a sigh, I felt a cold touch on my shoulder, and turned around to see the gaze of Jumin staring down at me.

"You look frightened boy. Or could it be… Enchanted?" He seemed to be interrogating me.

"E-Enchanted? Not me, I'm strong." I had to drag onto what character was left inside of me at this moment to be able to finish this chapter. It almost seemed like the more we broke apart from the story, the more of this reality would become broken. Even now, the candlelight flickering behind me almost seemed static like a broken film on VCR.

Somewhere in this world someone was not keying into their character as much as they should.

"Yes, Enchanted. Look at me Quasimodo." I was taken away from my train of thought by Jumin regaining my attention. I see what's happening now. This is when he starts to fear for his sanity due to Esmeralda's overwhelming kindness and beauty that he tricks himself that she is sinful through Quasimodo's eyes.

I shook my head to argue. "Can't be. She is kind Master. She gave me water." I said as I gestured to my mouth.

"I gave you a home when your mother abandoned you. I gave you food when no woman would nurse you. She gave you water from the dirty flask of a thief. Their king no less! She has enchanted you to believe she is good."

"If she is not good, then what is she?"

"She is a witch… A siren who desire to see men beg beneath her delicate feet. And she has caught you Quasimodo. You must not desire to see her again, or you will be fully under her spell, and God will help you no longer."

"God did not help me when I sat on that wheel being whipped without mercy. God did not help e as I stood in court for a crime I did not commit. God did not cause this pain I feel in my chest when she is not by my side. All fault does not fall on God… Master." I bowed to him and twisted my body to start walking away.

I felt something burning inside me. A rage that had sparked the night I sat in that jail cell. Of course Quasimodo would not yell at his master or talk back as I have, but I somehow was able to break free from his chains for a moment and say what I desired. I could make this story my own for only a brief moment if I wanted to.

"Quasimodo!" I head a large voice boom from behind me, I turned quickly to be only met with the back of a hand. As if I didn't already go through enough pain today. Looking up, I saw the sheer anger of the Archdeacon as he huffed at his ward.

"You will not talk back. You will obey me." He seemed to almost his everything out. He quickly leaned down and embarrassed me and caressed the cheek he had just struck. "I am sorry Quasimodo… but I only want to protect you. I don't want you to get yourself hurt out there. I just want you to understand that the gypsy girl is dangerous, and we must save ourselves. Do you understand my son?"

Looking back at him, I could see pity and tears in his eyes. It was like anger faded to a fatherly love and protection. This was the pure love and affection that Frollo had for Quasimodo. In this moment, I felt my body fall into his and I hugged him as if to agree to his rules. I obeyed all his laws, and became the little servant he desired, but I also became the son he needed.

"Good." He stroked my head and then placed a small cross mark upon my head. "Now… go to the tower and practice reading. I… I have something I need to take care of."

Nodding, I hobbled away and saw him hesitantly stepping toward the cathedral doors. I already knew what was going to happen tonight, and it pained me heavily. But I had to think to myself quickly on what could be happening to this world around us now.

The curse that had developed this world had created a story in it as well. In it are characters that we become and allow ourselves to personify due to our names being written on the script. It could possibly be since both me and MC cast people on the script, we were able to retain part of who we are back in reality. But it seems like there might be a cost if we act like ourselves too much like I had just now.

Arriving in my bell tower I looked out a windowsill to gaze into the sky, and similar to the candles, I watched as the clouds would flicker like that of static but then quickly regain their image as it was before. Random people, extra characters in the street would lose their faces and then regain them in a blink of an eye. It seemed if the story lost it's characters, it then would become a new story and be rewritten…

There was something archived back at magenta that was similar to this case. We had a novelist working on how to turn works of fiction into reality through the elixir, but we soon figured it to just be a huge vision of drug usage as we lost some of our greatest followers. Most of them would be lying in their cells gazing at the ceiling reciting poetry for weeks.

No, what happened to us in the theater almost seemed magical… or impossible. It wasn't like a drug trip, and the elixir has taken me to dark corners of the world that I never want to return to. I played with my reflection in one of the bells and then noticed that my face seemed almost normal. I quickly touched the side of my face to feel it and realized the disfigurement was still there, but what I saw through my own eyes was myself. My own reality.

Something, or someone other than me and MC is causing the story to malfunction. I would assume the story would allow it's director to make a few edits, but if it's characters start acting on their own, something is bound to change.

I crawled beneath the bell and found it's well worn rope and gripped it tightly in my hands. There was a large drop below me, and I gulped before I let myself fall and allow my body weight to encourage the bells to trigger the sound of their song.

As I swung back and forth on the cloisters rope, the tolling would grow quieter, and I could only hear MC talking to me and telling me to not act so strong. She had even kissed the top of my head in front of the whole crowd showing no fear of me. My cheeks felt hot as I relived this in my mind, but scolded myself as I was not to think of her.

Damning myself, I smacked my own face and slugged myself back to the ground only to mutter. "Damn… I wish to think of you MC, but Jumin has prevented me… and so has Quasimodo's loyalty. If we want to finish this story, we can't alter anything in the slightest… anymore."

I leaned my head down and hugged my legs tightly. The sound of the bells finishing their song was a bit of comfort to the hunchback lingering in my heart.


End file.
